# Does it matter if the Russians Have Kompromat? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [February 15, 2017, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-matter-if-the-russians-have-kompromat/779938 "2017-02-15T21:24:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2017, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-matter-if-the-russians-have-kompromat/779938/41 "2017-02-18T19:17:46Z")
Meh. A pic of Trump fucking a goat will be dismissed as “fake news” and he’ll distract by signing an executive order preventing immigrants from celebrating Christmas, or something. ---
**Author:** ![Evan\_Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b487fb/32.png) [@Evan\_Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evan_Drake)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2017, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-matter-if-the-russians-have-kompromat/779938/42 "2017-02-18T19:39:15Z")
Or forcing them to. Still, I hadn’t heard of Sergei Krirov, so looked him up, and although this **[Buzzfeed](https://www.buzzfeed.com/alimwatkins/the-strange-case-of-the-russian-diplomat-who-got-his-head-sm?utm_term=.kp80Er27q#.rc062BD3x)** article unusually tries to make the sinister most of the unlikelihood of an alcoholic Russian security guard in his 60s falling over and cracking his head, the NYPD considered it natural causes. Nor is it explained how his death affected the election that day unless Donald raced across town to commit a murder as he was being chosen as 45th President of the United States. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2017, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-matter-if-the-russians-have-kompromat/779938/43 "2017-02-18T20:26:40Z")
> [@Evan\_Drake](#): > > this **[Buzzfeed](https://www.buzzfeed.com/alimwatkins/the-strange-case-of-the-russian-diplomat-who-got-his-head-sm?utm_term=.kp80Er27q#.rc062BD3x)** article That reads as though it were written by Carl Kolchack. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2017, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-matter-if-the-russians-have-kompromat/779938/44 "2017-02-18T21:31:00Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > Trump has mastered the art of not paying people. The Russian mob has mastered the art of the hit. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2017, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-matter-if-the-russians-have-kompromat/779938/45 "2017-02-18T22:01:22Z")
> [@OldOlds](#): > > OK, let’s suppose the Russians have awful stuff on Trump. Golden showers, and he’s the recipient. Trump taking loans from oligarchs and promising to stay out of the Russian sphere of influence. Whatever you can imagine, they’ve got it on tape… > > In short, if Trump calls their bluff, does he “win?” As the last Star Wars film shows, it can all be faked. Video evidence that’s saved for later is no longer reliable. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2017, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-matter-if-the-russians-have-kompromat/779938/46 "2017-02-18T22:03:39Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > Trump has mastered the art of not paying people. If he has, he’s had a setback or two along the way. I have a story to tell about that but lack sufficient detail to relate it here. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2017, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-matter-if-the-russians-have-kompromat/779938/47 "2017-02-18T23:44:33Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#): > > Many sources saying that Trump’s disinclination to criticize Russia is suspicious and that it may point to collusion between Trump and Putin. Of course the fact is that if Trump had anything to hide and there were such collusion Trump would be doing just the opposite and to allay suspicions he would be criticizing Russia every chance he got knowing that Putin would be aware of the game he was playing. > > The fact that he is going easy on Putin is the strongest evidence that there is nothing sinister to this. He (and Putin) are not idiots. So the fact that the evidence supports the allegation suggest to you that the allegation isn’t true? That’s not how evidence works. I think your post does suggest another explanation for Trump’s behavior. Putin has got Trump in his pocket and both men are openly demonstrating this. Why? Because they know that people like you will refuse to accept the evidence if it doesn’t conform with what you want to believe. Trump and Putin aren’t idiots. But they’re counting on their supporters to be idiots. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2017, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-matter-if-the-russians-have-kompromat/779938/48 "2017-02-19T00:10:32Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Trump and Putin aren’t idiots. But they’re counting on their supporters to be idiots. Putin, at any rate, is not an idiot. ---
**Author:** ![snoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@snoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snoe)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2017, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-matter-if-the-russians-have-kompromat/779938/49 "2017-02-19T01:34:49Z")
First of all, I Occam-istically doubt the existence of the _kompromat_ - the actions of Trump, his administration, and the legislative GOP are perfectly explainable without positing blackmail. (Stupidity, avarice, and amorality are sufficient.) But let’s say it’s there. Trump says Fuck You Vladdie, and things go as you say in the OP: > [@](#): > > If they release the material, they’ve shot their wad. Donald’s impeached, but the new Pence administration isn’t going to let bygones be bygones. They’re now in a worse relationship than before. Alternatively, they could let it go, but then they’ve got nothing for the efforts. I think the Russians would still come out ahead by releasing the material: they would have caused chaos in the US and damage to our reputation abroad. (Helping elect Trump _already did this_.) The old Eastern Bloc countries would be less eager to join western alliances and adopt democratic norms; their eyes would turn back to the east. Foreign policy doesn’t _have_ to be a zero-sum game, but it certainly can be played that way. Embarrassing the US would be a win for Putin even if he got no concessions out of Trump (or, later, Pence). ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2017, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-matter-if-the-russians-have-kompromat/779938/50 "2017-02-19T01:35:26Z")
I do not understand how you could blackmail Trump. We all sort of expect he he has hookers and blow on speed-dial. I know I would. Long ago he should have just told everyone to “Publish and be damned.” It works if he’s innocent, it works if he is guilty. He is president now. They cannot take that from him. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2017, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-matter-if-the-russians-have-kompromat/779938/51 "2017-02-19T14:29:29Z")
> [@Evan\_Drake](#): > > > [@carnivorousplant](#): > > > > The allegation I read was that Trump watched Russian prostitutes urinate on each other in a bed in which the Obamas slept. > > I’m not quite seeing the fun here. > Nor how it would affect/insult the Obamas. Maybe the chambermaids… I’m thinking he meant the prostitutes were peeing \*while \*the Obamas slept in the bed. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2017, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-matter-if-the-russians-have-kompromat/779938/52 "2017-02-19T15:55:39Z")
> [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](#): > > I do not understand how you could blackmail Trump. We all sort of expect he he has hookers and blow on speed-dial. I know I would. > > Long ago he should have just told everyone to “Publish and be damned.” It works if he’s innocent, it works if he is guilty. He is president now. They cannot take that from him. That’s just the titlating and sensational part. If there are also illegal or at least unethical business dealings that they have documentation of, that may be much more damaging than some videos with prostitutes. Do you really think that Trump broke no laws in his business dealings, do you really think that russia could not have access to evidence of that. And then we get to go into more fun things like treason. His security advisor had to resign because he was verging on the line of being a traitor to the country, and that’s just what we caught them up to. If the russians have recordings of trump or his team promising concessions to the russians in exchange for assistance in the election, even the republican party has got to ditch him at that point, and impeach him if he doesn’t resign. I am not saying that I think it is highly probable that the russians have this type of blackmail, just saying, there’s alot more to blackmail than embarrassment. ---
**Author:** ![medstar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f07891/32.png) [@medstar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/medstar)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2017, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-matter-if-the-russians-have-kompromat/779938/53 "2017-02-20T17:45:32Z")
> [@OldOlds](#): > > OK, let’s suppose the Russians have awful stuff on Trump. Golden showers, and he’s the recipient. Trump taking loans from oligarchs and promising to stay out of the Russian sphere of influence. Whatever you can imagine, they’ve got it on tape. > > OK. So now, if Trump, having received assistance in getting elected (this is a hypothetical) says “Fuck you very much. Now get out of Crimea, depose Assad, and our relationship is just like it’s been for years.” Basically a double-cross. > > If they release the material, they’ve shot their wad. Donald’s impeached, but the new Pence administration isn’t going to let bygones be bygones. They’re now in a worse relationship than before. Alternatively, they could let it go, but then they’ve got nothing for the efforts. > > In short, if Trump calls their bluff, does he “win?” How do you know Trump wouldn’t take that material, put it on Pay Per View and make even more money?😃 ::d&r:: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-matter-if-the-russians-have-kompromat/779938.md?page=2)