Who, us? Kremlin says it doesn’t engage in ‘kompromat,’ but history suggests otherwise

Kompromat “has been a staple feature of Russia’s politics since at least the early 1990s,” said Daniel Treisman, a professor of political science at UCLA, whose work focuses on Russian politics and economics and comparative political economy. “These days, most of the embarrassing materials are generated by Russia’s security services, which leak secretly recorded videos or tapes to media sources.”