So, basically, this is not like some TV show or movie where the ‘good guy’ has the secret info on ONE thumb drive.
They are spreading the wealth, so to speak, to anyone who wants the documents. The documents, however, are currently encrypted. If something happens [this is just like a suspense movie] to any of the main players, the documents are automatically decrypted.
In TV/Movie land, the ‘good guy’ would send the thumb drive to the media.
In Realto land, the media are part of the crime syndicate.
The BIG QUESTION: Will CNN run the countdown clock for the document dump?
You automatically get the key which you use to decrypt.