When a scandal breaks, the discovery of an attempt to cover up the evidence of wrongdoing is often regarded as even more scandalous than the original deeds.

Typically, a cover-up draws an entire organization, or sometimes only its leadership, into complicity in covering up a crime that may have originally been committed by a few of its members. This is often regarded as tacit approval of that behaviour.

Examples include:

• The Dreyfus Affair
• The Watergate scandal
• The recent Catholic priests' sex abuse scandal
• The My Lai Massacre