By all account, this story has been well known in DC circles for years. That's why 3 out of the 5 women have already been identified. In essence, it was common knowledge.
So the question isn't really about the clean-up, it's about why Cruz was selected as the GOPe stalking horse. Because of course this information was eventually going to come up and damage the Cruz campaign. So why did Bush, Romney, et al back him?
It's because he's the transitional candidate ie Bush 2.0 is rolled out as the 'conservative candidate' that the party can unite behind.
I keep saying this, but the real fight is over the GOP money laundering apparatus. That's the real value, and one the GOPe are willing to do anything to deny Trump taking over their enterprise.
The strategy becomes so obvious now. Use Cruz to take down Trump, and then pull this card out against Cruz right before the convention. Easy-peasy . . .