Did Senator Graham really admit this to Russian Prankster's playing the role of a Turkish Minister?

NOTE!  The article is from Russia Times but apparently they sourced it from Politico.

via RT.

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham was the latest to fall victim to Russian prankster duo “Lexus and Vovan,” who, posing as a Turkish minister, tricked the lawmaker into admitting his ‘sympathy’ for Turkey’s ‘problem’ with Kurds.

Believing he was on the line with Ankara’s defense minister, Hulusi Akar, the South Carolina senator emphasized Washington’s desire to lure Turkey away from the S-400, a Russian-made missile defense system, with promises of a lucrative trade deal with “unlimited” potential. Politico obtained audio of the call, which took place in August.


“I want to make this a win-win if we can,” Graham told the so-called minister.

I don’t want to impose sanctions on our ally Turkey; I want us to move toward a free trade agreement. … The problem with the S-400 is that if Turkey activates it, other people want to buy it, and that’s really going to put pressure on our alliances. We’re pretty firm about that.

Graham has previously warned Ankara of penalties if it activated the S-400 systems purchased from Russia over the summer, and more recently introduced a bill in the Senate that would sanction Turkey over its military offensive against Kurdish fighters in Syria, however during the call the senator took credit for restraining his fellow Republicans.


“I’ve convinced my Republican colleagues to stand down,” he said, adding later: “the reason we don't have sanctions now is because I’ve helped President Trump ... say ‘no.’”

The senator also appeared to undercut his recent statements on Turkey’s incursion into Syria, telling the phony minister he wanted Washington to “make sure that Turkey is protected from this threat in Syria,” and that he is “sympathetic to the YPG problem.”

Story here. 

The public is in the land of mirrors here.  The funny room the media has us all locked into belies the reality of what we've seen (assuming you've been looking) over the past year or so.

Additionally the truths that are being said behind closed doors are never spoken about in public.

The American public is being handled like the ancient Romans handled their Plebeian Mobs.

via PBS.

Rome’s working class, the plebeians had little individual power. Grouped together, however, they became a Roman mob and had to be handled carefully.
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The Emperor Augustus was well aware of this risk and was keen to keep the poorest plebeians happy enough and reasonably well fed so that they would not riot. He began the system of state bribery that the writer Juvenal described as ‘bread and circuses’.

Free grain and controlled food prices meant that plebeians could not starve, while free entertainment – such as chariot races and gladiators in amphitheaters and the Circus Maximus – meant that they would not get bored and restless. Bribery it may have been, but it often worked.

Drink it in and weep. 

We, the American people, are being handled like a Roman mob.