Thread by @KlasfeldReports

These phone calls are an unbelievable listen.

Graham on Trump: "This case involving the Turkish bank, he’s very sensitive to that. The president wants to be helpful within the limits of his power."

Stunners on sanctions, Gülen and more. 🔽

https://twitter.com/NatashaBertrand/status/1182375793822982144?s=20

Graham is heard saying in the recording that he told his GOP colleagues to "stand down" on sanctions.

(He previously tweeted a warning of "sanctions from hell.")

Asked about Gülen, Graham claimed on the tape: "The FBI is still working that case... They’ve opened a criminal investigation. I don’t know the status of it.”

(Listen around minute 13:20)

Also: That Graham appears to have been fooled by the Russian pranksters' Turkish accents suggests to me that he wasn't listening very attentively on his recent trip to Ankara.

Photo of him courtesy of Turkish state TV.

https://twitter.com/TRTWorldNow/status/1086332304996282370?s=20

Important context: The article notes that the phone calls were from August and the "pranksters" have suspected ties to Russian intelligence services.

Graham tweeted about "sanctions from hell" during a very different foreign policy terrain, before he criticized Trump.

You may remember WSJ's bombshell 2017 report that Michael Flynn spoke with Turkish officials of a plan to "whisk" cleric Fethulah Gülen, U.S. green card holder, away in the dead of night outside the extradition process. wsj.com/articles/ex-ci…

There also have been reports that the Trump White House pushed DOJ to pursue Gülen, whom Erdoğan blames for the 2016 coup attempt.

Experts told me they failed for lack of evidence. courthousenews.com/white-house-pr…

That article was from last year.

Again, the recordings give a window into Trumpworld cozying up to Erdoğan, pursuing the strongman's enemies and advancing his goals in sanctions and more, in August.

They appear to have surfaced after Graham reversed himself, to embarrass him.

One more thing:

Earlier this year, U.S. congress members lined up to support Turkish NBA player, who was being pursued by Erdoğan’s government internationally.

Graham, who did not support him, went to Ankara.

My old interview with Kanter from Jan: courthousenews.com/turkey-born-kn…