The Exxon transaction shows the extent to which companies are structuring deals to try to minimize the risks of government scrutiny. This account of what Exxon learned about potential red flags, and what it did in response, is based on interviews with three people directly involved in the negotiations and a review of transaction and bank documents detailing the movement of funds. Some of the documents were provided by Global Witness, a London-based organization that investigates corruption, which released a report on the deal Thursday. The Journal independently corroborated information from the Global Witness documents. The bank documents reveal that hundreds of thousands of dollars in payments were made to Liberian government officials involved in the deal, including the son of the country’s former president, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2011. Exxon spokeswoman Rebecca Arnold said the company is “confident that the agreement complies with local Liberian law and international anticorruption laws….Exxon Mobil has an unwavering commitment to honest and ethical behavior wherever we do business. We have a longstanding commitment to compliance with the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and the anticorruption laws of the countries and territories in which we do business.”