Russian operative covertly attempted to deceive American authorities into believing fabricated compromising information about Trump.
In a series of meetings between October and December 2017, US officials attempted to re-acquire stolen NSA cyberweapons from Russian intermediaries. However, the deal took an unexpected turn as the Russians provided unverified and dubious "kompromat," or compromising material, on President Donald Trump instead of the hacking tools.
The offer was extended as "part of Russia and its government's support for Mr. Trump," according to reports, and appeared to be an attempt to push for the repeal of the 2012 Magnitsky Act. The Act, which imposed sanctions on Russian officials implicated in human rights abuses, has been a point of contention between the US and Russia.
The stolen cyberweapons, including zero-day exploits, were custom-made and could wreak havoc when used by the wrong entity. Their recovery was crucial for US national security. The Russian initially demanded a $10 million payment, but the price was later whittled down to $1 million, to be paid in separate installments.
The Russian's actions were part of a counterintelligence playbook the Kremlin often favors, aiming to sow discord about the Steele dossier and the Russia investigation as a whole. The Steele dossier, a controversial document containing allegations of collusion between Trump and Russia, was being used by the FBI as a "roadmap" while it investigated Russia's interference in the 2016 election.
Among the materials provided by the Russian was a tape that purportedly showed Trump engaging in sexual activity with prostitutes in a Moscow hotel room in 2013. However, upon closer examination of the materials, counterintelligence officials found that they did not bear the hallmarks of a Russian intelligence product.
This is not the first time Russia has attempted to gain a foothold in US politics. In 2016, former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, senior adviser Jared Kushner, and Trump's eldest son Donald Trump Jr. met with a Russian lawyer at Trump Tower who had promised dirt on then Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.
John Sipher, a former CIA clandestine services officer, described the 2017 deal as "the kind of operation that the Russians use to occupy our time and confuse issues." The tactics used by the Russian led American spies brokering the deal to believe Russia was working to pit the US intelligence community against a president who has accused top officials of conspiring against him.
In 2019, a Russian businessman with ties to the Russian government allegedly promised American authorities to return stolen NSA cyberweapons but instead reportedly delivered "kompromat" on President Donald Trump. The Russian offering to sell the weapons back to the US had ties to Russian intelligence and acted as an intermediary between US officials and senior officials at the FSB, Russia's primary counterintelligence agency.
US officials cut off the deal and warned the Russian to go back to Russia and never return. The interactions appeared to be part of a disinformation campaign aimed at stoking tensions over the Steele dossier. The offer of compromising information on a contender is not a new tactic in Russia's playbook, and it remains to be seen how these events will shape US-Russia relations in the future.
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