Federal court filings and newly released documents are now painting a far darker and more complex picture of the situation than anyone in her district—or even many political observers outside it—had imagined. What initially appeared to be the meteoric rise of a determined and scrappy outsider, someone who managed to navigate the rough waters of politics with surprising agility, now seems to have been underpinned by a far more intricate and troubling series of actions. Legal filings suggest that diverted pandemic relief money may have been funneled, whether knowingly or indirectly, into political operations designed to strengthen her electoral position.
