The scandal that erupted did not arrive with a single reveal but with a compounding of missteps: hush-money arrangements thinly veiled as consulting fees, shell organizations channeling funds to keep inconvenient truths buried, and a culture of enforced silence cultivated through favors and quiet threats. Journalists chasing crumbs found bank transfers that didn’t add up, email chains with curt directives, and witnesses who remembered meetings but forgot to be candid — until one did not.