I love all these in-depth explainers about "Kompromat," as if nobody has ever dug up dirt on someone and used it against them in the U.S.
Imagine CIA and FBI each becoming slightly more powerful than they are now and then joining forces. Now imagine there is a strong, relatively unified organised crime world that the new organisation routinely works with. And now imagine that organisation has managed to push it's head to the highest position of political power in the country. That's a bit more than digging up dirt, I'd say.
Digging up and actively luring people and recording them are completely different things.