Putin lavishes praise on Trump and hints at private Russians possibly hacking 2016 elections

Russian President Vladimir Putin said he likes guys like Donald Trump who speak their mind and dangled the possibility that patriotic Russians could have been involved in hacking during foreign elections.

“He’s direct, open,” Putin told a small group of foreign journalists in St Petersburg on Thursday. “He can’t be put in the same category as traditional politicians. I see great advantages because he’s a person with a fresh view.”

The praise comes amid deepening scrutiny of alleged Russian meddling in America’s democratic process on behalf of Trump, who’s dismissed the probes as a “witch hunt.”

Fired FBI Director James Comey may testify in front of a Senate committee next week over whether the president urged him to drop the bureau’s investigation. The Senate panel also plans to hear from Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and a senior White House aide.

While repeating past denials that the government in Moscow had anything to do with the cyberattacks on the campaign of Trump’s main challenger in the 2016 election, Hillary Clinton, Putin said he couldn’t rule out involvement by non-state actors in Russia.

He compared hackers to free-spirited “artists” who may be Russians who wake up one morning, see how their homeland is being maligned in the foreign press and decide to act on their own.