A
cover-up is an attempt, whether successful or
not, to
conceal evidence of wrong-doing,
error, incompetence or other
embarrassing information. The expression is
usually applied to people in
authority who
abuse their power to avoid or silence
criticism. Those who cover up may be those
responsible for a misdeed or their allies, or simply people with an
interest in silencing criticism.
When a
scandal breaks, the discovery of an
attempt to cover up is often regarded as even more reprehensible
than the original deeds.
The mildest case, not quite a cover-up, is simply to release news
which could be embarrassing but is not important enough to
guarantee attention at a time when other news is dominating the
headlines, or immediately before a holiday or weekend.
Initially a cover-up may require little effort; it will be carried
out by those closely involved with the misdeed. 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. This is often regarded as tacit approval of that
behaviour.
It is likely that some cover-ups are successful although by
definition this cannot be confirmed. Many 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.
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"
is often 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. (In Catholic
Moral Theology this would be considered
the
Sin of omission and a
Mortal sin)
Real cover-ups are common enough, but any event which is not
completely clear is likely to give rise to a thicket of
conspiracy theories alleging covering up
of sometimes the most weird and unlikely conspiracies.
A cover-up need not involve wrong-doing. In a number of countries
the incidence of
epidemics of
contagious diseases is often covered up,
either because of
national pride or to
forestall panic. This is often counter-productive, allowing the
disease to spread unchecked when precautions could be taken.
AIDS and
avian
influenza have been covered up in the first few years of the
21st century.
In 2006 China
has been
more open about avian flu, which has helped in dealing with an
epizootic.
"Snowjob" is an American colloquialism for a lie, deception or a
cover-up; for example,
Helen
Gahagan Douglas described the
Nixon Administration as "the greatest
snow job in history."
Reasons
People may try to cover up if
- they are dishonest enough to wish to hide things that they
should not conceal (hiding information is not in itself a
cover-up);
- and they believe that they can successfully cover up the facts,
either by effective concealment or using their authority and power
to prevent investigation and publication;
- and they believe that public knowledge of the facts will harm
them in some way, from long jail sentences through possible loss of
electoral office to mere embarrassment;
- and they believe that the benefit of a successful cover-up
outweighs the risk and harm to them of being
caught covering up.
Sometimes an apparently simple and low-risk cover-up grows out of
control. For example, an employee may take money covertly from his
employer to finance something, in the expectation that (s)he will
shortly return it with nobody being the wiser; but the money taken
is lost, the employee cannot make good, and must dangerously extend
the cover-up. Compulsive
gamblers, who
irrationally think that they will bet the
embezzled money, win, return the stake, and keep
their winnings are an example. They will typically steal more,
still intending to repay it with winnings, until eventually the
shortfall can be concealed no longer. The case of
derivatives trader Nick
Leeson is similar.
Examples
Alleged cover-ups
Conspiracies to cover up the
facts of a number of prominent events have been alleged in the
following cases:
See also
References
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