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Now in paperback, and updated with a new afterword, American Kompromat tells the story of the unimaginably corrupt, dissolute, and decadent subculture of the most powerful people in the world and how they have orchestrated, obtained, and used kompromat-Russian for compromising information-as leverage to achieve their political goals.

In the followup to New York Times bestseller House of Trump, House of Putin, American Kompromat is situated in the context of the Trump-Russia scandal and the new era of hybrid warfare, kleptocrats, and authoritarian right-wing populism. But this time, rather than follow a trail of laundered money, Craig Unger reports on kompromat-the Russian word for compromising information-operations that uncovered the dirty little secrets of the richest and most powerful men on earth.

Set in a world of Upper East Side mansions and private Caribbean islands, of gigantic yachts and private jets, American Kompromat shows that something much more sinister and important was taking place than the public could ever imagine-namely, that from Donald Trump to Jeffrey Epstein, kompromat operations documented the darkest secrets of the most powerful people in the world and transformed them into potent weapons.

Unger explores the nature of the compromising material they obtained, how it was obtained, who was behind it (be they Russians, Israelis, or the new American variety of oligarch), who had access to the material since it was produced, whether it was used for blackmail or extortion, and what roles it played in the Trump-Russia scandal.

Praise for American Kompromat
"For the first time a former KGB employee has gone on record to describe Donald Trump's historic relationship with the Kremlin. It's a bombshell that must be looked into."—Robert Baer, former CIA operative and author of See No Evil

“I said in 2017 that Trump had more Russian connections than Aeroflot, and American Carnage documents every flight. Trump’s loyalty to Russian dictator Vladimir Putin was deeper and more insidious than merely envying his wealth and power. America has removed Putin’s puppet from the White House, but the KGB man who controlled him is still in the Kremlin, eager to repeat the success of his greatest operation: President Trump. Read Craig Unger to understand why the danger to American democracy is far from over.”—Garry Kasparov, Chairman of the Renew Democracy Foundation and author of Winter Is Coming: Why Vladimir Putin and the Enemies of the Free World Must Be Stopped
 
"By compiling decades of Trump’s seedy ties, disturbing and consistent patterns of behavior, and unexplained contacts with Russian officials and criminals, Unger makes a strong case that Trump is probably a compromised trusted contact of Kremlin interests."—John Sipher, Washington Post

"Craig Unger has just published a wonderful, well-written book. The jewel in the crown is how the KGB cultivated Donald Trump. With assistance of the eminent former KGB officer Yuri Shvets, American Kompromat establishes how it really took place."—Anders Åslund, senior fellow, The Atlantic Council

“A must-read. The gun’s not quite smoking, but the barrel’s plenty hot, and there are Russian shell casings all around.”—Kirkus (starred review)

“Make[s] the unassailable case that Donald J. Trump has been cultivated by Soviet and Russian leaders.”—CounterPunch

“Craig Unger, who gave us the important books House of Bush, House of Saud and The Fall of the House of Bush, once again delivers. Unger probes the matter deeply. Indeed, the entire book is meant to serve as the counter-intelligence investigation that was promised by the Mueller report, but which failed to materialize. Among many useful aspects of this book, American Kompromat provides a detailed retelling of that particular disappointment and highlights the role that Attorney General William Barr played in lying to the American public about Mueller’s work.”—Journal of Cyber Policy

“Unger has compiled a mountain of fascinating information, revealing how dark forces, working behind the scenes, attempted to use potentially compromising acts that threatened to drag potential targets down the rabbit hole of betrayal, all in an effort to control our politics. [A] fascinating book.”—Global Geneva