House Majority Leader McCarthy reportedly said 'I think Putin pays' Trump last year

• House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy reportedly said "I think Putin pays" then-candidate Donald Trump last year, according to The Washington Post
• The newspaper obtained says it verified a recording of McCarthy's exchange with colleagues
• A spokesman for House Speaker Paul Ryan says no one present took McCarthy seriously

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) (C) is trailed by reporters after the House voted on a procedural measure to move ahead with health care legislation to repeal Obamacare at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., March 24, 2017.

Jonathan Ernst | Reuters

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy privately told his colleagues last year that he thinks Russian President Vladimir Putin "pays" then-candidate Donald Trump, The Washington Post reported Wednesday.

"There's two people I think Putin pays: [Rep. Dana] Rohrabacher and Trump," the California Republican said, according to a June recording that the newspaper reported it "listened to and verified."

Responding to the Washington Post story on Wednesday, McCarthy said it was "a bad attempt at a joke," according to MSNBC.

McCarthy and House Speaker Paul Ryan have defended now-President Trump recently as his White House faces a string of controversies, some of which are related to the FBI investigation into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 election.

That probe — which is now being led by a special counsel — includes looking into any possible links between Trump campaign associates and the Kremlin.

In a tweet Wednesday, Ryan spokesman Brendan Buck said McCarthy "was just kidding" and that "no one took it seriously."

Buck tweet: Yes, this is dumb. He was just kidding. No one took it seriously.

At the time of the recording, Ryan reportedly told lawmakers to keep the conversation private, saying "no leaks."

Read the full Washington Post story here.