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cover-up

{{short description|Attempt to conceal evidence}}

{{Redirect|Snowjob||Snow Job (disambiguation){{!}}Snow Job}}

{{Other uses|Cover Up (disambiguation)}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2017}}

File:"An ostrich only thinks he "covers up." - NARA - 513846.jpg only thinks he 'covers up'."]]

A cover-up is an attempt, whether successful or not, to conceal evidence of wrongdoing, error, incompetence, or other embarrassing information. Research has distinguished personal cover-ups (covering up one's own misdeeds) from relational cover-ups (covering up someone else's misdeeds).{{cite journal |last1=Kundro|first1=Timothy|title=Understanding When and Why Cover-Ups Are Punished Less Severely |journal=Academy of Management Journal|date=2021 |volume=64 |issue=3 |pages=873–900 |doi=10.5465/amj.2018.1396 |s2cid=218805378 |url=https://journals.aom.org/doi/10.5465/amj.2018.1396}}

The expression is usually applied to people in positions of authority who abuse power to avoid or silence criticism or to deflect guilt of wrongdoing. Perpetrators of a cover-up (initiators or their allies) may be responsible for a misdeed, a breach of trust or duty, or a crime.

Definitions and related terms

While the terms are often used loosely, cover-up involves withholding incriminatory evidence, while whitewash involves releasing misleadingly exculpatory evidence, and a frameup involves falsely blaming an innocent person. Misprision is the failure of mandated reporters to disclose crimes they are aware of (e.g., a military officer failing to proactively report evidence of treason, or a hospital failing to report child abuse).

A cover-up involving multiple parties is a type of conspiracy.

Snowjob is an American and Canadian{{cite encyclopedia |title=Define snow job at dictionary.com |dictionary=dictionary.com |url=http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/snow+job |access-date=6 November 2013}} colloquialism for deception or a cover-up; for example, Helen Gahagan Douglas described the Nixon Administration as "the greatest snow job in history".{{cite news |author=Herbert Mitgang |date=25 May 1992 |title=Books of The Times; Nixon's Enemy in 1950 Had the Last Laugh in '74 |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CEFDD153FF936A15756C0A964958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all |access-date=16 April 2008 |work=The New York Times}}

Modern usage

{{More citations needed section|date=April 2020}}

File:Ambassador Morgenthau's Story p314.jpg victims in an effort to cover up the genocide.{{cite book |last1=Akçam |first1=Taner|author-link=Taner Akcam |title=Killing Orders: Talat Pasha's Telegrams and the Armenian Genocide|title-link=Killing Orders |date=2018 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-3-319-69787-1 |language=en|page=157}}]]

When a scandal breaks, the discovery of an attempt to cover up the truth is often regarded as even more reprehensible than the original deeds.{{Citation needed|date=August 2024}}

Initially, a cover-up may require a lot of effort, but it will be carried out by those closely involved with the misdeed.{{Citation needed|date=August 2024}} Once some hint of the hidden matter starts to become known, the cover-up gradually draws all the top leadership, at least, of an organization into complicity in covering up a misdeed or even crime that may have originally been committed by a few of its members acting independently.{{Citation needed|date=August 2024}} This may be regarded as tacit approval of that behaviour.{{citation needed|date=December 2009}}

It is likely that some cover-ups are successful, although by definition this cannot be confirmed. Many{{Citation needed|date=August 2024}} fail, however, as more and more people are drawn in and the possibility of exposure makes potential accomplices fearful of supporting the cover-up and as loose ends that may never normally have been noticed start to stand out. As it spreads, the cover-up itself creates yet more suspicious circumstances.

The original misdeed being covered may be relatively minor, such as the "third-rate burglary" which started the Watergate scandal, but the cover-up adds so many additional crimes (obstruction of justice, perjury, payoffs and bribes, in some cases suspicious suicides or outright murder) that the cover-up becomes much more serious than the original crime.{{citation needed|date=December 2020}} This gave rise to the phrase, "it's not the crime, it's the cover-up".{{cite news |last1=Carlson |first1=Margaret |title=With Trump, It's Not the Cover-Up. It's the Crime. |url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/with-trump-its-not-the-cover-up-its-the-crime |access-date=29 December 2020 |work=The Daily Beast |date=23 October 2019 |language=en}}

Cover-ups do not necessarily require the active manipulation of facts or circumstances. Arguably the most common form of cover-up is one of non-action. It is the conscious failure to release incriminating information by a third party. This passive cover-up may be justified by the motive of not wanting to embarrass the culprit or expose them to criminal prosecution, or even the belief that the cover-up is justified by protecting the greater community from scandal. Yet, because of the passive cover-up, the misdeed often goes undiscovered and results in harm to others ensuing from its failure to be discovered.{{Citation needed|date=August 2024}}

Real cover-ups are common enough, but any event that is not completely clear is likely to give rise to a thicket of conspiracy theories alleging covering up of sometimes the weirdest and most unlikely conspiracies.

Typology

{{Synthesis|section|date=April 2017}}

File:Cruikshank_-_Old_Thirty_Nine.png, or covering up versus sealing up the Bible, 1819 by George Cruikshank. ("39 articles" refers to the Church of England)]]

The following list is considered to be a typologyThe systematic classification of the types of something according to their common characteristics. See Wiktionary. since those who engage in cover-ups tend to use many of the same methods of hiding the truth and defending themselves. This list was compiled from famous cover-ups such as the Watergate Scandal, the Iran-Contra Affair, My Lai massacre, the Pentagon Papers, the cover-up of corruption in New York City under Boss Tweed (William M. Tweed and Tammany Hall) in the late 19th century,Ackerman, K. D. (2005). Boss Tweed: The rise and fall of the corrupt pol who conceived the soul of modern New York. New York: Carroll & Graf Publishers. {{ISBN|0-7867-1435-2}}. and the tobacco industry cover-up of the health hazards of smoking.See biography of the whistleblower Jeffrey Wigand The methods in actual cover-ups tend to follow the general order of the list below.

; Initial response to allegation

  1. Flat denial
  2. Convince the media to bury the story
  3. Preemptively distribute false information
  4. Claim that the "problem" is minimal
  5. Claim faulty memory
  6. Claim the accusations are half-truths
  7. Claim the critic has no proof
  8. Attack the critic's motive
  9. Attack the critic's character

; Withhold or tamper with evidence

  1. Prevent the discovery of evidence
  2. Destroy or alter the evidence
  3. Make discovery of evidence difficult
  4. Create misleading names of individuals and companies to hide funding
  5. Lie or commit perjury
  6. Block or delay investigations
  7. Issue restraining orders
  8. Claim executive privilege

; Delayed response to allegation

  1. Deny a restricted definition of wrongdoing (e.g. torture)
  2. Limited hang out{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A44668-2002Apr24.html|title=From Rome, A 'Limited Hangout'|last=McGrory|first=Mary|date=25 April 2002|newspaper=Washington Post|access-date=29 June 2017}}(i.e., confess to minor charges)
  3. Use biased evidence as a defense
  4. Claim that the critic's evidence is biased
  5. Select a biased blue ribbon commission or "independent" inquiry

; Intimidate participants, witnesses or whistleblowersSee also List of whistleblowers.

  1. Bribe or buy out the critic
  2. Generally intimidate the critic by following him or her, killing pets, etc.
  3. Blackmail: hire private investigators and threaten to reveal past wrongdoing ("dirt")
  4. Death threats of the critic or his or her family
  5. Threaten the critic with loss of job or future employment in industry
  6. Transfer the critic to an inferior job or location
  7. Intimidate the critic with lawsuits or SLAPP suits
  8. Murder; assassination

; Publicity management

  1. Bribe the press
  2. Secretly plant stories in the press
  3. Retaliate against hostile media
  4. Threaten the press with loss of access
  5. Attack the motives of the press
  6. Place defensive advertisements
  7. Buy out the news source

; Damage control

  1. Claim no knowledge of wrongdoing
  2. Scapegoats: blame an underling for unauthorized action
  3. Fire the person(s) in charge

; Win court cases

  1. Hire the best lawyers
  2. Hire scientists and expert witnesses who will support your story
  3. Delay with legal maneuvers
  4. Influence or control the judges

; Reward cover-up participants

  1. Hush money
  2. Little or no punishment
  3. Pardon or commute sentences
  4. Promote employees as a reward for cover-up
  5. Reemploy the employee after dust clears

In criminal law

Depending on the nature of cover-up activities, they may constitute a crime in certain jurisdictions.

Perjury (actively telling lies to the court, as opposed to refusing to answer questions) is considered a crime in virtually all legal systems. Likewise, obstruction of justice, that is, any activity that aims to cover-up another crime, is itself a crime in many legal systems.

The United States has the crime of making false statements to a federal agent in the context of any matter within the federal jurisdiction, which includes "knowingly and willfully" making a statement that "covers up by any trick, scheme, or device a material fact".{{USCsub|18|1001|a}}

Examples

File:J’accuse.jpg}} of Thursday 13 January 1898, with the famous open letter J'Accuse…! written by Émile Zola to the President of France about the Dreyfus Affair. The headline reads "I accuse! Letter to the President of the Republic". See J'accuse...!, the whole text on Wikisource]]

  • The Dreyfus Affair{{cite web|url=http://jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?letter=D&artid=482#1462 |title=DREYFUS CASE ("L'Affaire Dreyfus") |publisher=JewishEncyclopedia.com |access-date=13 March 2012}}
  • Armenian genocide denial{{cite journal |last1=Dadrian |first1=Vahakn N. |title=The signal facts surrounding the Armenian genocide and the Turkish denial syndrome |journal=Journal of Genocide Research |date=2003 |volume=5 |issue=2 |pages=269–279 |doi=10.1080/14623520305671|s2cid=71289389 |quote=First, there are the organized attempts to cover up the record of past atrocities. The nearest successful example in the modern era is the 80 years of official denial by successive Turkish governments of the 1915–17 genocide against the Armenians in which some 1.5 million people lost their lives. This denial has been sustained by deliberate propaganda, lying and coverups, forging documents, suppression of archives, and bribing scholars.}}
  • Katyn massacre{{cite journal |last1=Sterio |first1=Milena |title=Katyn Forest Massacre: Of Genocide, State Lies, and Secrecy |journal=Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law |date=2011 |volume=44 |pages=615 |url=https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/cwrint44&div=36&id=&page=}}
  • The Iran–Contra affair[https://fas.org/irp/offdocs/walsh Final Report of the Independent Counsel for Iran/Contra Matters (Walsh Report)] March 2010.
  • The Luzhniki disaster{{cite news |title='82 Moscow Soccer Tragedy Is Exposed |first=Andrew |last=Katell |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-07-10-sp-2558-story.html |agency=Associated Press |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=10 July 1989 |access-date=18 February 2012}}
  • The Chernobyl disaster{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0426.html |title=Soviet Announces Nuclear Accident at Electric Plant |newspaper=The New York Times |date=29 April 1986 |access-date=26 April 2014 |last=Schmemann |first=Serge |page=A1 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140427011434/http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0426.html |archive-date=27 April 2014 |url-status=live }}
  • The My Lai massacre{{cite web |author=Doug Linder |url=http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/mylai/MYL_Peers.htm |title=The Peers Report on the My Lai Massacre |publisher=Law.umkc.edu |access-date=13 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081115153853/http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/mylai/MYL_Peers.htm |archive-date=15 November 2008 |url-status=dead }}
  • The Roman Catholic sex abuse cases of the late 20th and early 21st centuries.{{cite web|url=https://www.boston.com/globe/spotlight/abuse/stories/013102_priests.htm |title=Boston Globe / Spotlight / Abuse in the Catholic Church / Scandal and coverup |work=The Boston Globe |date=31 January 2002 |access-date=10 November 2013}}
  • The Watergate scandal{{cite web |url=http://www.nixonlibrary.gov/forresearchers/find/tapes/watergate/wspf/741-002.pdf |title=TRANSCRIPT OF A RECORDING OF A MEETING BETWEEN THE PRESIDENT AND H.R. HALDEMAN IN THE OVAL OFFICE ON JUNE 23, 1972 FROM 10:04 TO 11:39 AM - Watergate Special Prosecution Force |access-date=13 March 2012 |archive-date=28 May 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100528003941/http://www.nixonlibrary.gov/forresearchers/find/tapes/watergate/wspf/741-002.pdf |url-status=dead }}
  • Russian doping scandals{{Cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/live/2016/dec/09/mclaren-report-into-doping-in-sport-part-two-live |title=McLaren report: more than 1,000 Russian athletes involved in doping conspiracy |work=The Guardian |location=London |first=Lawrence |last=Ostlere |date=9 December 2016 }}
  • Stormy Daniels–Donald Trump scandal

Alleged cover-ups

Conspiracy theories generally include an allegation of a cover-up of the facts of some prominent event. Examples include:

  • John F. Kennedy assassinationMark Lane (1966). Rush to Judgment: A Critique of the Warren Commission's Inquiry Into the Murders of President John F. Kennedy, Officer J. D. Tippit and Lee Harvey Oswald. Holt Rinehart & WinstonHenry Hurt (January 1986). Reasonable Doubt: An Investigation into the Assassination of John F. Kennedy. Holt, Rinehart & Winston.Michael L. Kurtz (November 2006). The JFK Assassination Debates: Lone Gunman versus Conspiracy. University of Kansas Press
  • TWA Flight 800 conspiracy theories
  • Korean Air Lines Flight 007 alternate theories
  • M/S EstoniaRabe, J(2002) Die Estonia: Tragödie eines Schiffsuntergangs, Publisher: Delius Klasing
  • New World OrderGoldberg, Robert Alan (2001). Enemies Within: The Culture of Conspiracy in Modern America. Yale University Press. {{ISBN|0-300-09000-5}}.
  • Pusztai affairRowell, Andrew (2003). Don't worry, it's safe to eat: the true story of GM food, BSE, & Foot and Mouth. Earthscan. {{ISBN|1-85383-932-9}}.
  • Roswell incident{{cite web |author=Dirk Vander Ploeg, Wainfleet, Ontario, Canada |url=http://www.ufodigest.com/news/0707/haut.html |title=2002 SEALED AFFIDAVIT OF WALTER G. HAUT |publisher=Ufodigest.com |access-date=13 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120314014638/http://www.ufodigest.com/news/0707/haut.html |archive-date=14 March 2012 |url-status=dead }}
  • September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks{{cite web|url=http://stj911.org/hypotheses/alternative.html |title=Hypotheses: Principal Alternative Theories of the Attack retrieved March 2010 |publisher=Stj911.org |access-date=13 March 2012}}
  • Attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi{{cite web|title=Docs Back Up Claims of Requests for More Security in Benghazi|url=https://news.yahoo.com/documents-back-claims-requests-greater-security-benghazi-192307709--abc-news-politics.html |publisher=News.yahoo.com}}
  • UFOs in generalLawrence Fawcett & Barry J. Greenwood, The UFO Cover-Up (Originally Clear Intent), 1992, Fireside Books (Simon & Schuster), {{ISBN|0-671-76555-8}}. Many UFO documents.
  • Jimmy Savile sexual abuse scandal, 2012
  • Mamasapano clash{{cite web|title=Critics hit Palace's 'new script' on PNoy's involvement in Mamasapano operation

|url=http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/442433/news/nation/critics-hit-palace-s-new-script-on-pnoy-s-involvement-in-mamasapano-operation |publisher=GMANews.tv}}

  • Death of Jeffrey Epstein
  • Origin of COVID-19
  • 2022 Nord Stream pipeline sabotage
  • 2023 Ohio train derailment{{Cite news |last=Thompson |first=Stuart A. |date=2023-02-16 |title='Chernobyl 2.0'? Ohio Train Derailment Spurs Wild Speculation. |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/16/technology/ohio-train-derailment-chernobyl.html |access-date=2023-02-20 |issn=0362-4331}}{{Cite web |last=Merlan |first=Anna |date=February 13, 2023 |title=The Conspiracy-Verse Thinks "Fake UFOs" Are a Distraction From a Disastrous Train Derailment |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/m7g8x8/the-conspiracy-verse-thinks-fake-ufos-are-a-distraction-from-a-disastrous-train-derailment |access-date=2023-02-20 |website=Vice News |language=en}}

See also

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References

{{reflist|30em}}

External links

  • {{Wiktionary inline}}
  • {{Commons category-inline|Concealment}}

{{Wikiquote}}

{{Media manipulation}}

Category:Censorship

Category:Conspiracies

Category:Deception

Category:Scandals

Category:Perception