Rick Perry Got Duped by a Russian Prank Call About Pig Poop

Rick Perry—the guy in charge of America's nuclear weapons stockpile—spent 22 minutes on the phone with prank callers pretending to be Ukrainian prime minister Volodymyr Groysman, Bloomberg reports.

The prank callers talked to Perry about the Paris climate deal, cyberhacking, and a fantastic new fuel made from mixing booze and manure secretly developed by the Ukrainian president himself—and the secretary of energy never realized that, uh, maybe he wasn't talking to Groysman after all.

"I look forward to being able to visit with the president and getting a more in-depth briefing," Perry said about the so-called miraculous poop fuel. "If that's the result, then he's going to be a very, very wealthy and successful man."

The pranksters, Vladimir Kuznetsov and Alexei Stolyarov, who call themselves the "Jerky Boys of Russia," have pulled similar stunts on high-profile celebrities. They once called up Elton John pretending to be Putin—though that call was half the length of Perry's.

The pranksters released Perry's whole interview on YouTube, and the Energy Department confirmed Tuesday that, yeah, that's Perry alright.

"Secretary Perry is the latest target of two Russian pranksters," Energy Department spokesman Shaylyn Hynes told Bloomberg. "These individuals are known for pranking high level officials and celebrities, particularly those who are supportive of an agenda that is not in line with their governments. In this case, the energy security of Ukraine."

If Rick Perry is really this easily duped by fake phone calls, he should thank his lucky stars these "Jerky Boys of Russia" got through before Longmont Potion Castle could unleash the greatest of all prank calls on him. He should probably find someone else to vet his calls from now on, too.