“My phone is in the hands of the FBI now.”
Embarrassing Admission
Lindsey Graham, the GOP minority leader of the Senate, is claiming he was tricked by hackers who convinced him he was talking to his colleague, majority leader Chuck Schumer.
As the Washington Times reports, Graham made this alarming admission during remarks to the Hill & Valley Forum, a gathering of tech leaders and government officials who met to discuss artificial intelligence.
“So I get a message, I think, from Schumer — it ain’t from Schumer,” the South Carolina Republican said. “And next thing you know, my phone’s, I don’t know what. Anything you can create apparently can be hacked.”
It’s unclear whether the message he was referencing was text or audio, or what kind of technology might have been used in the alleged hack.
All the same, the situation has apparently resulted in law enforcement involvement.
“My phone is in the hands of the FBI now,” Graham added.
Fool Me Twice
While it’s unclear who may have hacked the Senate minority leader’s phone, his representative confirmed to the Washington Times that the Senate’s sergeant at arms is investigating the incident as well. The FBI did not respond to the newspaper’s request for more information.
In a catty response, a Democratic staffer told The Hill that Graham should have been suspicious from any text message purporting to be from Schumer because the New York Democrat is known to use an old-school flip phone.
“Chuck Schumer isn’t texting you from his flip phone,” the aide, whose name The Hill did not print, said. “If you get a text message from Schumer, it probably isn’t real.”
Interestingly, this also isn’t the first time Graham has claimed to be the target of hackers.
Back in late 2016, the senator claimed during a televised discussion on CNN about Russian intelligence units that hacked the Democratic National Committee that he, too, had been hacked by the Russians.
“I do believe the Russians hacked into the [Democratic National Committee]. I do believe they hacked into [John] Podesta’s email account,” Graham told host Wolf Blitzer. “They hacked into my campaign account.”
It’s unclear what, if anything, authorities did about the alleged Russian hack at the time.
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