House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy Caught On Audio: Putin Pays Trump

Rep. Kevin McCarthy

The Washington Post is reporting the discovery of a recording from last year which apparently captures Republican House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy claiming Donald Trump was receiving payments from Russian President Vladimir Putin.

A month before Donald Trump clinched the Republican nomination, one of his closest allies in Congress — House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy — made a politically explosive assertion in a private conversation on Capitol Hill with his fellow GOP leaders: that Trump could be the beneficiary of payments from Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“There’s two people I think Putin pays: Rohrabacher and Trump,” McCarthy (R-Calif.) said, according to a recording of the June 15, 2016 exchange, which was listened to and verified by The Washington Post. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher is a Californian Republican known in Congress as a fervent defender of Putin and Russia.

House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) immediately interjected, stopping the conversation from further exploring McCarthy’s assertion, and swore the Republicans present to secrecy.

[snip]

When initially asked to comment on the exchange, Brendan Buck, a spokesman for Ryan, said: “That never happened,” and Matt Sparks, a spokesman for McCarthy, said: “The idea that McCarthy would assert this is absurd and false.”

After being told that The Post would cite a recording of the exchange, Buck, speaking for the GOP House leadership, said: “This entire year-old exchange was clearly an attempt at humor. No one believed the majority leader was seriously asserting that Donald Trump or any of our members were being paid by the Russians. What’s more, the speaker and leadership team have repeatedly spoken out against Russia’s interference in our election, and the House continues to investigate that activity.”

“This was a failed attempt at humor,” Sparks said.

Why would Brendan Buck initially respond "That never happened," only to cop to the fact it did happen minutes later? Is lying his default?

Rep. Kevin McCarthy Drops Out Of Race For Speaker Of The House

Rep. Kevin McCarthy, who last week made a stunning political gaffe by admitting the House Benghazi Committee was created to take down Hillary Clinton presidential candidacy, has just announced he is dropping out of the race for Speaker of the House.

Up to now, it was a fairly foregone conclusion that McCarthy would succeed John Boehner as Speaker. But his admission last week to Fox News' Sean Hannity created a political firestorm for him.

Speaker of the House John Boehner has now announced the election to replace him will be postponed.

UPDATE: McCarthy shared at a press conference that "We need a new face."

When asked if his statement regarding the Benghazi investigation last week hurt his chances to become Speaker, he replied, "Well, it wasn't helpful."

Here's the announcement:

A Different "Kevin McCarthy" Has A Special Message For You

An important message from Kevin McCarthy. No, not the Republican House Speaker-in-waiting. Another one. From Iowa.

Posted by Hillary Clinton on Wednesday, October 7, 2015

Politics: The New McCarthyism

This new ad from The Agenda Project asks, "Is this what we can expect when Representative Kevin McCarthy is Speaker of the House?"

Last week, McCarthy admitted in a TV interview that the Benghazi investigations in Congress were created to bring down Hillary Clinton's poll numbers.

Republican Rep. Kevin McCarthy Admits Benghazi Investigations Meant To Damage Hillary Clinton's Campaign

They say in Washington, D.C. politics that a "gaffe" is when someone accidentally tells the truth.

The presumed new Speaker of the House, Rep. Kevin McCarthy, did just that when speaking to Fox News' Sean Hannity last night when he let the cat out of the bag and admitted that the past year's Republican led witch hunt regarding the many Benghazi investigations were conducted with the intent of bringing down Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign.

Speaking about his presumed role as the incoming Speaker of the House, here's McCarthy's admission:

What you’re going to see is a conservative speaker, that takes a conservative Congress, that puts a strategy to fight and win. And let me give you one example. Everybody thought Hillary Clinton was unbeatable, right?

But we put together a Benghazi special committee. A select committee. What are her numbers today? Her numbers are dropping. Why? Because she’s untrustable. But no one would have known that any of that had happened had we not fought to make that happen.

McCarthy Confirmed Benghazi Committee Political Charade
Speaker-in-Waiting Kevin McCarthy confirms: The Benghazi committee is a partisan effort to hurt Hillary's campaign.
Posted by The Briefing on Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Today, Hillary Clinton was asked for her response to the the news that the allegations were orchestrated for political maneuvering:

Hillary responds to Kevin McCarthy
Hillary's response to Kevin McCarthy.
Posted by The Briefing on Wednesday, September 30, 2015