Answer:
Congressmen accepted bribes in the form of stock shares. => The Union Pacific Railroad company was involved in the scandal. => The New York Sun exposed the story in 1872.
The Union Pacific Railroad was involved in a scandal where they inflated construction costs for the Transcontinental railroad and then used some of the money to bribe Congressmen to give them favorable laws and backing.
The New York Sun exposed this fraud in 1872 and it led to a loss of reputation for Congress and near bankruptcy for Union Pacific.
Gould and Fisk bought a huge supply of gold in New York City. => President Grant decided to sell $4 million in gold from the federal reserves.
Gould and Fisk managed to gain an influential relationship with Abel Corbin who was married to the sister of Ulysses S. Grant when he was President.
They used this to influence the market by driving up the price of gold whilst buying a lot of gold in New York City so that they would sell it and become really rich.
When President Grant found out that they had used him to gain influence and had unduly influenced him, he ordered that the Treasury sell $4 million in gold to the market. This immediately drove down the price of gold and caused losses for Gould and Fisk.
