In April of 2016, computer technicians at the Democratic National Committee discovered that someone had accessed the organization’s computer servers. In the days and weeks that followed, they discovered that the cyber thieves had helped themselves to everything: sensitive documents, emails, donor information, even voice mails. It was the 21st-century equivalent of the Watergate scandal, but this time, the culprit was Russia’s spy service, and their method a new hybrid cyber warfare: Kompromat.

But why would Vladimir Putin want to tip the scales of an American election? New York Times bestseller Malcolm Nance follows the curious real life spy story through a labyrinth of cyber espionage, the history of Russia’s spy services, and Vladimir Putin’s rise through the KGB from junior officer to Spy-in-Chief. He also details Donald Trump’s personal associations with Putin and Russia’s oligarchy—and Trump’s loose affiliation of advisors nicknamed “the Kremlin Crew.”

In THE PLOT TO HACK AMERICA we learn how technicians discovered that Russia’s spy agency was responsible for the hack; how the Russians have devastated individuals, political groups, and entire nations with their cyber crimes; and how they may have cultivated Donald Trump as an unwitting asset to facilitate their ultimate foreign policy goals: disband NATO, dominate eastern Europe, and replace America as the world’s superpower.

Malcolm Nance is a globally recognized counterterrorism expert and Intelligence Community member who has been deployed to intelligence operations in the Balkans, Middle East, and sub-Saharan Africa. He is the author of five books, I including the New York Times bestseller DEFEATING ISIS, and appears regularly on MSNBC. Malcolm was named a Genius for the Third Annual MSNBC and 92Y "7 Days of Genius" Festival in March 2016.