What was the subject of the 1920s U.S. political scandal known as "Teapot Dome"?

The lease terms were very favorable to the oil companies, which secretly made Fall a rich man. Fall received a no-interest loan from Doheny of $100,000 in November 1921 (equivalent to $1.64 million in 2022). He received other gifts from Doheny and Sinclair totaling about $404,000 (equivalent to $6.63 million in 2022). While the leases were legal, these transactions were not. Fall attempted to keep the deal secret, but the sudden improvement in his standard of living raised suspicions. He paid up his ranch taxes, for example, which had been as much as 10 years past due. Carl Magee, who later founded The Albuquerque Tribune, wrote about this sudden affluence and also brought it to the attention of the Senate investigation.