23 Times Throughout History That A Major Cover-Up Backfired

First, just as an exercise in playful pedantry, a “cover-up that backfired” is a bit redundant in my eyes. If a cover-up is discovered, that in itself is a backfire, given that the intent of the cover-up was to keep something secret. Cover-ups that didn’t backfire aren’t known as cover-ups. They’re just known as “what happened.”

That said, looking at times in brain — and probably yours. 

Read on for Reddit’s best examples of cover-ups that were laid bare, and probably brought more attention to them because of it.