Lindsey Graham Tricked By Russian Pranksters

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) thought he was talking Turkey’s minister of defense in an August call but he was really talking to Russian pranksters, Politico reports.

In the call, Graham was primarily concerned with getting Turkey back into the F-35 program and urging the “defense minister” to refrain from using Russia’s S-400 anti-aircraft weapon system.

But Graham also expressed sympathy for Turkey’s “Kurdish problem” and described the Kurds as a “threat.” Those private comments appear to contradict his public statements this week, in which he criticized Trump’s decision to pull U.S. troops out of northern Syria.