Putin Says He Barely Recalls Flynn From Russian Dinner

Megyn Kelly's new show debuts Sunday on NBC, and she scored quite the coup for her very first interview: none other than Vladimir Putin. In an excerpt she previewed on Meet the Press, Kelly showed an exchange that might be good news for Michael Flynn on the investigative front and bad news on the personal magnetism front. In the exchange, Kelly asks Putin about a now-famous dinner in Russia in 2015 in which he was pictured sitting next to Flynn, reports NBC News. Putin's response? He says he barely remembers Flynn.

“You and I, you and I personally, have a much closer relationship than I had with Mr. Flynn," says Putin, recounting how he and Kelly had met a few times over the previous days. As for the event with Flynn, it was a dinner for Russian TV network RT. "Next to me there was a gentleman sitting on one side," recalls Putin. "I made my speech. Then we talked about some other stuff and I got up and left. And then afterwards I was told, ‘You know there was an American gentleman, he was involved in some things. He used to be in the security services.’ That’s it. I didn’t even really talk to him. That’s the extent of my acquaintance with Mr. Flynn.” For his part, Flynn was paid $45,000 by RT to speak at the dinner, notes the Hill. The ousted national security adviser's Russian ties are now under formal scrutiny. (More Vladimir Putin stories.)