Kompromat

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For the 2022 film, see Kompromat (film).

Kompromat
IPA
[kəmprɐˈmat]
Literal meaningcompromising material

Kompromat is damaging information about a politician, a businessperson, or other public figure, which may be used to create negative publicity, as well as for blackmail, often to exert influence rather than monetary gain, and extortion. Kompromat may be acquired from various security services, or outright forged, and then publicized by use of a public relations official.[1][2]

The word kompromat comes from Russian (Russian: компромат, short for компрометирующий материал "compromising material"). Widespread use of kompromat has been one of the characteristic features of the politics of Russia,[3] as well as of other post-Soviet states.[4][5][6][7]

Etymology

The term kompromat is a borrowing of the Russian

Stalin era, which is short for "compromising material" (Russian: компрометирующий материал, romanized: komprometiruyushchy material). It refers to disparaging information that can be collected, stored, traded, or used strategically across all domains: political, electoral, legal, professional, judicial, media, and business. The origins of the term in Russian trace back to 1930s secret police jargon.[8]

Techniques

In the early days, kompromat featured doctored photographs, planted drugs, grainy videos of liaisons with prostitutes hired by the KGB, and a wide range of other primitive entrapment techniques. More contemporary forms of kompromat appear as a form of cybercrime.[9] One aspect of kompromat that stands the test of time is that the compromising information is often sexual in nature.[10]

Use

Kompromat is part of the political culture in Russia, with many members of the business and political elite having collected and stored potentially compromising material on their political opponents.[11] Kompromat does not necessarily target individuals or groups, but rather collects information that could be useful at a later time.[12] Compromising videos are often produced long in advance of when leverage over people is needed.[13]

Opposition research is conducted in the U.S. to find compromising material on political opponents so that such material may be released to weaken those opponents. Some contend that Kompromat differs from opposition research, in that such information is used to exert influence over people rather than to simply win elections.[14] Nevertheless, compromising material uncovered by opposition research need not be used in only legal or ethical ways. It can be used to exert influence over Western leaders just as surely as it can be used to exert influence over Russian leaders.[15][16]

History

In the 1950s, British civil servant John Vassall was a victim of a gay honey trap operation, producing kompromat which could be used against him since homosexuality was illegal in Britain at the time.[17] During a 1957 visit to Moscow, American journalist Joseph Alsop also fell victim to a gay honey trap operation conducted by the KGB.[18]

In 1997,

Prosecutor General of Russia. It was released after he began looking into charges of corruption by President Boris Yeltsin and his associates.[19]

In April 2010, politician

Victor Shenderovich were involved in a sex scandal with a woman claimed to have acted as a Kremlin honey trap to discredit opposition figures.[20] The video was released only two days before the wedding of Shenderovich's daughter.[13]

In cases of kompromat during the early 21st century, Russian operatives have been suspected or accused of placing child pornography on the personal computers of individuals they were attempting to discredit.[21][22] In 2015, the UK's Crown Prosecution Service announced that it would prosecute Vladimir Bukovsky for "prohibited images" found on his computer;[23] however, the case against Bukovsky was put on hold as investigators tried to determine whether the pornographic images were planted.[9] Bukovsky died in October 2019.[24]

Ahead of the

sex tape of Mikhail Kasyanov emerged on NTV.[19][22]

During the 2016 U.S. presidential election, U.S. intelligence agencies were investigating possibly compromising personal and financial information on President-elect Donald Trump, leading to allegations that he and members of his administration might be vulnerable to manipulation by the Russian government.[25][26]

British

homophobic campaign to remove him from this position, has claimed that the Russian government has acquired kompromat on high-profile Conservative Party MPs. This includes Boris Johnson, Liam Fox, Alan Duncan, and David Davis.[27]

Following a 2016 phone call between incoming-U.S. National Security Adviser

Department of Justice believed that "General Flynn was compromised," and placed Flynn in "a situation where the national-security adviser essentially could be blackmailed by the Russians."[28][29]

See also

References

  1. ISBN 1-586-48202-5
    .
  2. ISBN 0-415-34515-4
    .
  3. ISBN 0-415-33779-8. Archived from the original
    (PDF) on 19 August 2006. Retrieved 16 September 2018.
  4. ISBN 0-754-64503-7
    .
  5. ^ Operation Smear Campaign, The Ukrainian Week (10 September 2013)
  6. ^ Braun, Elisa (14 February 2020). "How kompromat on a close Macron ally went viral". POLITICO. An example of the use of "kompromat"
  7. S2CID 225375805
    .
  8. ^
    ISBN 9780801470059
    . Retrieved 12 January 2017.
  9. ^ a b Higgins, Andrew (9 December 2016). "Foes of Russia Say Child Pornography Is Planted to Ruin Them". The New York Times. Retrieved 11 January 2017.
  10. ^ Waxman, Olivia B. (12 January 2017). "Document Claims Russia Has Donald Trump 'Kompromat.' What Is That?". Time. New York. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
  11. ISSN 1364-7431
    . Retrieved 12 January 2017. Kompromat has become a part of the political culture in Russia. Nearly everyone within Russia's business and political elite has at one time or another collected and stored potentially compromising material on their political opponents for future use. Kompromat can be real or fabricated, and generally involves drugs, prostitutes, sexual escapades, sleazy business deals, illicit financial schemes, or embezzlement.
  12. ^ Woolf, Christopher (11 January 2017). "Moscow's long history of gathering 'kompromat'". Minneapolis: Public Radio International. Retrieved 12 January 2017. "Kompromat," says David Filipov, "means 'compromising material' that can be used down the road as leverage over somebody. [...] "This was something former KGB officers were telling us here," adds Filipov, "they're not necessarily targeting you. You show up and they say, let's just see what this guy does. So they'll record you, they'll do surveillance, see what you're up to. Some stuff gets in a file and maybe they can use it, maybe they can't use it.
  13. ^
    Washington D.C.
    Retrieved 11 January 2017.
  14. ISSN 0190-8286
    . Retrieved 12 January 2017.
  15. ISSN 0028-792X
    . Retrieved 1 August 2019.
  16. ^ "Settlements prompt review of New Mexico's settlement system". AP NEWS. 23 May 2019. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
  17. ^ Jones, Bryony; Mackintosh, Eliza (12 January 2017). "What is Kompromat?". CNN. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
  18. ^ Higgins, Andrew; Kramer, Andrew (12 January 2017). "Sexual blackmail, Russia style: a history of 'kompromat'". The Irish Times. Dublin. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
  19. ^ a b Hodge, Nathan; Grove, Thomas (11 January 2017). "Trump Dossier Spotlights Russian History of 'Kompromat'". The Wall Street Journal. New York. Retrieved 11 January 2017.
  20. Daily Telegraph. London
    . Retrieved 11 January 2017.
  21. ^ Higgins, Andrew (9 December 2016). "Foes of Russia Say Child Pornography Is Planted to Ruin Them". The New York Times. Retrieved 26 January 2017.
  22. ^
    National Public Radio. A Russian Word Americans Need To Know: 'Kompromat'
    . Retrieved 29 January 2019. In other recent cases, Russian operatives have been suspected or accused of placing child pornography on the personal computers of individuals they were attempting to discredit. Russian Vladimir Bukovsky, 73, a longtime critic of Soviet and Russian leaders, now lives in Britain, where he faces charges related to child pornography. But the case was delayed while investigators checked to see whether the images on Bukovsky's computer were placed there by an outside party, The New York Times reported last month, citing other similar cases.
  23. ^ "Vladimir Bukovsky to be prosecuted over indecent images of children". Crown Prosecution Service. 27 April 2015. Archived from the original on 18 November 2016. Retrieved 11 January 2017.
  24. New York Times
    , 28 October 2019. Retrieved 14 August 2020
  25. Oath
    . Retrieved 11 January 2017.
  26. Nikkei
    . 11 January 2017. Retrieved 11 January 2017.
  27. ^ Townsend, Mark; Smith, David (14 January 2017). "Senior British politicians 'targeted by Kremlin' for smear campaigns". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 16 September 2018.
  28. ^ Wright, Austin (8 May 2017). "Sally Yates: 'We believed that Gen. Flynn was compromised'". Politico. Arlington: Capitol News Company. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
  29. ^ "Michael Flynn's Questionable Conduct, and Trump's". The New Yorker. 9 May 2017. Retrieved 24 February 2018.

External links

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