Quite the opposite actually
Putin could own the Clintons with the dirt he has on them
But it seems he preferred to deal with a US President not owned by globalists and less likely to be goaded into taking US into WW3 with Russia
That makes a lot of sense. I agree for sure. Just goes to show how multi level these relationships are. And how contextual the decision making is.
The old adage about simultaneously holding mutually exclusive viewpoints being a hallmark of a socialist mind applies.