lead by the nose

At the start of the war, Putin had been "led by the nose" by Ukraine and the West, but also by Russia's security agencies and defence industry.

The defence relied upon proving the group had been led by the nose by officials.

"Yet again we have no business case for East-West Rail," he said, accusing the Treasury of being "led by the nose" in to the announcement.

As higher order animals, we are often led by the nose beyond our understanding.

Mr. Sanger argued Wikipedia readers “do not want to be led by the nose” before criticizing the website for not allowing content that cites outlets like the populist British tabloid The Daily Mail.