CIA paid Russian spy who offered 'dirt' on Donald Trump: Report

Donald Trump. Pic/AFP

A Russian man promising stolen hacking tools and compromising information on President Donald Trump fleeced American spies for USD 100,000 last year, according to a New York Times report yesterday.

CIA agents reportedly spent much of last year trying to buy back from the Russian hacking programmes stolen from the NSA. The seller, who was not identified, but had links to both cyber criminals and Russian intelligence, tantalised the US spies with an offer of the NSA hacking tools and compromising materials on Trump that had been advertised for sale online by a shady group called the Shadow Brokers. The seller, reached through a chain of intermediaries, wanted USD 1 million. The USD 100,000, delivered in a cash-stuffed suitcase handed over in a Berlin hotel room, was an initial payment by US agents still dubious he really had what he was promising.

USD 100k
Amount CIA paid the Russian