Russian pranksters promised Rep. Adam Schiff bogus 'kompromat' on Trump, recorded the call for mockery


Last March, a man purporting to be Andriy Parubiy, the speaker of Ukraine's parliament, reached Rep. Adam Schiff (Calif.), the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, on the phone. The caller offered Schiff recordings of two minor Russian celebrities talking about compromising material they'd gathered about Donald Trump during a 2013 trip to Moscow, and Russian President Vladimir Putin's promise that this "kompromat" would never emerge if Trump canceled all Russian sanctions.
"And what's the nature of the kompromat?" Schiff asked soberly. "Well, there were pictures of naked Trump," the caller replied. Schiff said he'd "be in touch with the FBI about this," and "I think it probably would be best to provide these materials both to our committee and to the FBI." The caller was actually Vladimir Kuznetsov, a Russian prankster who, along with partner Alexey Stolyarov, are known as Vovan and Lexus, The Atlantic's Julia Ioffe reports. The two Russians' previous victims include Sen. John McCain, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and Elton John.
"Before agreeing to take the call, and immediately following it, the committee informed appropriate law-enforcement and security personnel of the conversation, and of our belief that it was probably bogus," a Schiff spokesman told The Atlantic. "Obviously, it was bogus — which became even more evident during the call — but ... we have to chase any number of leads, many of which turn out to be duds," the spokesman told Britain's Daily Mail, which reported Tuesday that Schiff staffers followed up twice with Vovan and Lexus.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Whether Schiff was actually fooled wasn't the point, Ioffe notes. "Kuznetsov and Stolyarov immediately sent the recording to Kremlin-friendly media, which gleefully made hay of it: another dumb American, ready to believe the most-ludicrous stories about a Russia run by sneaky, evil spies." You can read more about Vovan and Lexus, and the many ways Putin is getting what he wants, at The Atlantic.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Quiz of The Week: 10 – 16 May
Have you been paying attention to The Week's news?
-
The Week Unwrapped: Why is cheese so bad for the environment?
Podcast Plus, will weight-loss drugs cut cancer rates? And what's behind a rise in 'sextortion' cases?
-
Crossword: May 16, 2025
The Week's daily crossword puzzle
-
Gabbard fires intelligence chiefs after Venezuela report
speed read Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has fired the top two officials leading the National Intelligence Council
-
Trump vows to lift Syria sanctions
speed read The move would help the new government stabilize the country following years of civil war
-
Senate rejects Trump's Library of Congress takeover
speed read Congress resisted the president's attempts to control 'the legislative branch's premier research body'
-
Hamas frees US hostage in deal sidelining Israel
speed read Edan Alexander, a 21-year-old soldier, was the final living US citizen held by the militant group
-
White Afrikaners land in US as Trump-declared refugees
speed read An exception was made to Trump's near-total ban on admitting refugees for the white South Africans
-
Qatar luxury jet gift clouds Trump trip to Mideast
speed read Qatar is said to be presenting Trump with a $400 million plane, which would be among the biggest foreign gifts ever received by the US government
-
Trump taps Fox News' Pirro for DC attorney post
speed read The president has named Fox News host Jeanine Pirro to be the top federal prosecutor for Washington, replacing acting US Attorney Ed Martin
-
Trump, UK's Starmer outline first post-tariff deal
speed read President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Kier Starmer struck a 'historic' agreement to eliminate some of the former's imposed tariffs