suborn

To persuade someone to do something illegal, for example, to lie in a court of law.

According to the ex-CIA director John Brennan, this is something the Russian government is quite proficient at doing. In Brennan’s experience, the Russian Intelligence Community tries to suborn people in other countries to act in a way that is beneficial to the interests of the Russian state.

When referring to possible Russian meddling in the recent US presidential election, Mr Brennan stated: “Having been involved in many counterintelligence cases in the past, I know what the Russians try to do. They try to suborn individuals, and they try to get individuals, including U.S. persons, to try to act on their behalf, either wittingly or unwittingly…”

suborn

to persuade someone to do something illegal, for example to lie in a court of law