One month before Donald Trump won the Republican presidential nomination in 2016, G.O.P. lawmakers were whispering about the possibility of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. According to an audio recording obtained by The Washington Post, House Republican leaders were discussing a meeting with the prime minister of Ukraine, who had warned about Russia’s efforts to destabilize Western democracies by funding populist politicians, when the group—which included Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, and Conference Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers—turned the conversation to Russian interference in the United States.

“There’s two people I think Putin pays: Rohrabacher and Trump,” McCarthy said, referring to California Republican Dana Rohrabacher, who has repeatedly advocated for closer relations with Russia. “Swear to God,” McCarthy added as others in the room laughed.

“No leaks,” Ryan instructed the group. “This is how we know we’re a real family here.”

A spokesman for Ryan flatly denied the exchange had taken place, but quickly changed his story after the Post said it had a recording of the conversation, arguing that the comments were just a joke. “This entire year-old exchange was clearly an attempt at humor,” Brendan Buck said. “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.”

McCarthy also dismissed the Post’s reporting Wednesday. “It’s a bad attempt at a joke; that’s all there is to it,” he told reporters on Capitol Hill. “No one believes it to be true from any stretch of fact.”

Even if McCarthy and Ryan were joking, as they said, the exchange still suggests top Republicans were highly aware of Russian meddling in the election—long before the intelligence community confirmed the influence campaign—and didn’t particularly care. By that point, McCarthy was already firmly in Trump’s camp; Ryan endorsed him in early June. Neither appeared troubled by the fact that the Russian government was working to boost the Republican nominee, nor did either ever offer anything but tepid criticism of Trump’s pro-Russian foreign-policy agenda.

Meanwhile, a new report reveals that Trump’s campaign was in closer contact with Russian agents than previously thought: according to Reuters, there were at least another 18 exchanges between the Trump campaign and Russia that were not previously disclosed. That’s in addition to reports from earlier this year that Trump aides were in “constant communication” with Russians during the presidential race. The financial ties between Trump and Russia apparently go deeper, too. As The Wall Street Journal reported this week, a Russian-Canadian developer funneled money from a Russian state-run bank through the 65-story Trump International Hotel and Tower in Toronto. The financial ties and communications between Russia, Trump, and his associates—including Paul Manafort and Mike Flynn, who both received money from Russian-aligned entities—are currently being investigated by the federal government as part of a larger probe into Russian election interference in 2016. (Trump, Manafort, and Flynn have repeatedly denied wrongdoing.)