“This all burst into view in late July, days before the opening ceremony in Paris: In an extraordinary public spectacle, Olympic officials staged a dramatic power play, pressing Mr. Sykes and other American officials to help end the federal inquiries as a condition for receiving the bid.

Mr. Sykes and the other Americans capitulated. The governor of Utah, Spencer J. Cox, pledged to enlist the president of the United States to help the Olympic officials, even though political intervention in federal investigations rarely, if ever, deters prosecutors and F.B.I. agents.”