White House Plumbers (2023) s01e05 Episode Script
True Believers
1
ST. JOHN HUNT: MacArthur's Park ♪
Is melting in the dark ♪
All the sweet green
icing flowing down ♪
You and I need to talk
before the trial.
Not now.
ST. JOHN: Because it
took so long to bake it ♪
And I'll never have
that recipe again ♪
I recall the yellow cotton dress ♪
Foaming like a wave ♪
On the ground around her knees ♪
- The birds ♪
- There are a couple of things
that we need to sort out
about Watergate, pronto.
- Like the book.
- Not now. Later.
Is melting in the dark ♪
All the sweet green icing ♪
Flowing down ♪
- (SOBS)
- LISA HUNT: Sit down.
Go sit down. It's okay.
- (SOMBER MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
- Later, when?
PRIEST: Bless this
gravestone with which we mark
the resting place of
Dorothy Wetzel Hunt.
Amen.
(BOTH SOB)
My condolences.
("WHITE HOUSE PLUMBERS"
THEME MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
(THEME MUSIC CONCLUDES) ♪
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
CHAPMAN: We're so sorry
for you and the family.
MOURNER: Everyone really loved Dorothy.
- Tough break, Howard.
- Thank you.
- (RAIN PATTERING)
- Thank you.
WILLIAM F. BUCKLEY
JR.: Howard. Dear Kevan.
My profound and fathomless condolences.
Howard, Dorothy was a classy lady.
Thank you, Doctor.
- (DR. MANUEL ARTIME SPEAKING SPANISH)
She's in a better place.
E. HOWARD HUNT: Thank you for coming.
Who was that with Mr. Buckley?
Dr. Artime. Uh
If Kennedy had done his goddamn job,
he'd be president of Cuba, right now.
I'm so sorry dear.
(SIGHS)
Your father is having
a rough time right now.
Because of your mother.
She bought me my first guitar.
G. GORDON LIDDY: Hmm.
I was so scared to play
it for him. (WHIMPERS)
Fear is a powerful tool.
When I was young
I was afraid of everything.
Rats in particular.
But one day when I was ten
I cornered the biggest
rat that I could find.
And I killed it.
Then cooked it.
And I ate it.
And after that, rats did
not bother me anymore.
Face your fears, son.
Has your father mentioned any new books
that he's been writing?
- (DRINK POURING)
- What?
Howard.
- Fran.
- FRAN LIDDY: How are the kids?
Do you need an extra
hand? I can come by?
I'm flying up the woman
who lived with us in Uruguay
- to help with David.
- It must be so overwhelming.
Never in my worst nightmares
would I have imagined my
own country turning on me.
(BREATHES SHAKILY)
- I might go to jail.
- Yes.
It is awful. Just awful.
But I meant David.
Oh, right. The boy,
uh, of course. What
Uh, David will be looked after.
When I was pregnant with our fourth,
Gordon came home and found me standing
in the doorway banging my
head against the door frame.
I was dog tired.
I didn't think I'd
survive, but here I am.
You'll find a way. Just
take care of the children.
Suppose if I was married to Gordon,
I would bang my head against the door
from time to time.
- (DOORBELL RINGING)
- (BOTH LAUGH)
- I needed a laugh.
- (FRAN LAUGHS)
- (DOORBELL RINGING)
- Excuse me.
Are you deaf? Answer the goddamn door!
- (DOORBELL RINGING)
- Excuse him.
HOWARD: I'm coming!
- Your father is
- An asshole.
He's scared.
Fear is a powerful tool.
Are you afraid of rats?
- Jim.
- JAMES W. MCCORD: Howard.
Oh, I'm sorry for the
intrusion but I came to pay
my condolences.
The wife made you a little something.
I figured nobody's doing
any cooking around here.
- Tuna.
- Hmm.
Well, thanks, Jim.
You know, that Dorothy's a fine woman.
- She was.
- Yeah.
Did you see that Nixon named
a new undersecretary of transportation?
One of his boys, uh, Egil Krogh?
- Bud Krogh?
- Oh, yeah.
I hadn't heard that.
You see, it turns out
now this Krogh fella
has oversight over all FAA
and NTSB investigations,
uh, including plane crashes.
Funny, huh?
I I I'm sure, it's a coincidence.
MCCORD: Of course.
It's just a coincidence.
All right, Howard, I'll
see you at the courthouse.
- Thanks, Jim.
- Oh, not for nothing,
but could you return
that empty casserole dish?
Uh, it is my wife's favorite.
- You bet, Jim.
- Well, thank you, Howard.
- (SOFT MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
- (INDISTINCT CHATTER)
(DR. ARTIME SPEAKING SPANISH)
Hey.
DR. ARTIME: David?
Do you know what a godfather does?
- No.
- If anything should happen to your father,
I will be your father.
Okay?
DAVID HUNT: Lisa!
LIDDY: Finally!
You think it's safe to talk?
Unless those birds are federal agents,
I'd say it's safe.
Did you know that Dorothy took out
a two-hundred-thousand-dollar
life insurance policy
right before she stepped on that plane?
- Yeah.
- Given the
influx of insurance money,
I'm hoping you have
considered not doing some
of the things that you were
- you know, considering doing.
- For Christ's sake, Gordon,
I'm not writing the fucking book!
- Is that why you came?
- No! No.
Her plane got rerouted
at the last minute
they turned off the runway lights.
The FBI beat the firemen there.
They beat them there,
Gordon. Dozens of agents!
- (SHUSHES) Calm down.
- Yeah, but don't you see?
The firemen always get there first.
And then they call the NTSB.
And if and only if the NTSB
finds anything suspicious
do they call the FBI.
So, how the hell did
the FBI get there first?
So, you think that the FBI took down
an entire United Airlines
737 just to shut you up
about Watergate?
Not just Watergate, Gordon.
- I said some things.
- Why not just kill you, hmm?
Hell, thought's occurred
to me several times.
Did Dot sense something
or did she see someone?
Why the hell did she
take out the insurance?
- Howard, take a deep breath.
- (BREATHES DEEPLY)
You're my friend. And
you have to stay strong.
We need to leave this
meeting on the same page.
¿Comprende?
isn't a meeting, Gordon,
It's a funeral.
(SIGHS)
(GRUNTS)
- All packed up for the morning?
- You know, I don't have to go.
Sweetie, I think your
mother would want at least
- one of her kids to graduate.
- (CHUCKLES)
- You okay, Papa?
- There's something
of your mother's I have.
Her camel hair coat?
No. That
she was wearing on the plane.
Never mind.
Good night.
What is that?
Nothing.
Well, if it belonged to Mama, I want it.
(OMINOUS MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
What is it?
I can't tell you.
I will simply say this.
What's inside this envelope
could be dangerous to
what's left of this family.
I don't understand.
Then destroy it.
I need to be able to say
under oath that I didn't.
Do you want me to destroy it?
I can't tell you to do that either.
You're the only one I can trust.
Only you, pumpkin.
- Goodnight.
- Goodnight, Papa.
(MUSIC TURNS SINISTER, FADES) ♪
- (INTERCOM BEEPS)
- SECRETARY: Mr. Dean?
Someone claiming to be George
McGovern is on the phone.
Put him through.
(TELEPHONE RINGS)
Gordon.
I have serious concerns
about Hunt's stability.
I don't know how long
he can take the pressure
without cracking. What can I bring him
to tide him over, calm him down?
Just tell I'm taking care of it.
The the Plumbers
will get living expenses
of 30,000 per annum, plus legal fees.
And, uh
you'll do time, but at Danbury.
Not bad. How long?
Uh, you'll get a
presidential pardon within
- two years.
- LIDDY: Right.
Just so we're clear
I am a soldier.
And I can keep my mouth
shut no matter what.
But I'm not sure two years
is gonna cut it for Hunt.
JOHN DEAN: I don't know
what you expect me to do.
There are limits to what is possible,
given the circumstances.
Understood.
Should, um (CLICKS TONGUE)
prophylactic action
need to be taken?
Wh what are you talking about?
To ensure his enduring silence.
I am prepared to use any
and all means and methods
at my disposal.
Think about it.
- I will wait for a signal.
- What?
Is that the signal?
DEAN: Do not break another goddamn law.
Not a parking ticket. No
jaywalking. Understood?
See if you can do better than two years.
Remember, you're in
deeper shit than we are.
We just planted a few bugs.
All that money you gave us?
That is some big-time obstruction
for the White House.
That is a federal
Hello?
I'm heading over to the West Wing.
Tell them I need five
minutes with the president.
(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
Fucking little prick!
RICHARD NIXON: Under my direction, uh,
counsel to the president, Mr. Dean,
has conducted a complete investigation
of all leads which might involve any
or anybody in the government.
And I can say categorically
that his investigation
indicates that no one in
the White House staff,
no one in this administration,
presently employed,
uh, was involved in this
very bizarre incident.
The trial of those formally charged
with breaking into
Democratic Party headquarters
is about to start.
Daniel Schorr reports.
DANIEL SCHORR: From
the Watergate building
two miles away to
this federal courthouse
has stretched a
six-month road, detouring
through sensational newspaper reports
and the presidential election campaign.
So this could be a
trial of just seven men
or it could develop into
a political sensation.
It promises at any rate
to be the greatest drama
of politics on trial
that this courthouse
has ever seen.
- REPORTER 1: Is that Liddy?
- REPORTER 2: Yeah, it is.
- Gordon! Gordon! Gordon.
- (REPORTERS CLAMORING)
LAWYER: Hey, folks. Come on, back up!
Give us some space! Yeah,
yeah. Give him some space.
Hey, we've got a we've got a hearing
in five minutes, okay?
LIDDY: Hello! Top of the morning!
- (INDISTINCT CHATTER)
- LIDDY: Hello!
Are you sure you don't
want me to be there?
Oh, no, no, no.
I'm going to act like a jackass,
piss off the prosecution,
force a few errors, take
the whole thing to appeals
and get it all thrown out.
Seeing you in the gallery,
I might be forced to
remember my manners.
(FRAN SCOFFS)
(CAMERA SHUTTERS CLICK)
- Good Morning, gentlemen!
- REPORTER 2: Morning, Gordon.
- Good morning!
- Gordon, could you give us a statement?
Yes, I could.
Come in, please. Get this down.
My statement
is that I have nothing
whatsoever to state.
- (INDISTINCT CHATTER)
- (LAUGHS)
REPORTER 3: Mr. Hunt.
Howard! Howard! Mr. Hunt.
Howard, how are you gonna plead?
REPORTER 4: Mr. Hunt,
did the White House know?
My client is a patriot and a veteran
who served his country in wartime!
He is here to be judged
by a jury of his peers.
(REPORTERS CLAMOR)
JUDGE JOHN SIRICA: We
are back on the record
in the matter of criminal
case number 1827-72.
The United States of America
versus George Gordon Liddy et al.
Mr. Silbert, are you prepared
with your opening statement?
Yes, I am, Your Honor.
This jury is gonna
wanna know the purpose.
What did these men go
into the headquarters for?
Was their sole
purpose political espionage?
Were they paid?
Were there financial gains?
Who started it?
(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
Who hired them? If anyone hired them?
A whole lot is gonna
come out in this case.
Is he the, uh, judge or the prosecutor?
More like the executioner.
EARL SILBERT: Your Honor,
ladies and gentlemen of the jury
the men you see before you
are criminals, to be sure.
The operation was directed
against the Democratic Party,
specifically Senator George McGovern,
because of his alleged left-wing views.
Certainly the facts will suggest to you,
based on the information
we produce before you
- there was a financial motive here.
- JUDGE SIRICA: (QUIETLY) Oh, God.
Thank you, Mr. Silbert.
(GAVEL THUDDING)
HOWARD: What was all that nonsense
about financial motives?
- We did not rob a bank.
- No, we did not.
HOWARD: Why do they
think it's about money?
The FBI has everything in my safe,
all my notes on GEMSTONE, Fielding.
Mitchell, Dean, Krogh,
- that shit heel Magruder
- Nixon?
(SHUSHES) The point is,
the prosecutors should
know why we did what we did.
Well, sometimes I find it confusing.
- And we did it!
- HOWARD: I don't get their strategy!
BERNARD "MACHO" BARKER: Hmm.
Gentlemen, join us!
LIDDY: It's a far cry
from the Cosmos Club,
- isn't it, Howard?
- HOWARD: Indeed.
I'm starving.
Uh, sorry. Are we keeping you?
I have a meeting with Silbert.
You're talking to the prosecutors?
It's a discovery meeting. With Bittman.
To see the evidence
- from my safe.
- Okay.
- Any of you talk to McCord?
- I'd like to discuss
a little piece of tape
- with that son of a
- MCCORD: Hey there, fellas.
- MACHO: Hola.
- Jim.
Hey, mind if I squeeze in?
Just
Sorry, can I borrow the
(ROLANDO "MUSCULITO"
MARTINEZ SPEAKING SPANISH)
- (INDISTINCT CHATTER)
- By all means.
- Now, what's
what's the word on clemency?
I have been in contact with Dean.
- Oh, really?
- Yeah.
We all plead not guilty.
- ¿No culpable?
- Oh, yeah. That's a great plan.
Unlike you two sideline Sallies,
we were arrested inside the DNC.
- Uh-huh.
- Right?
- VIRGILIO "VILLO" GONZÁLEZ: Sí.
- Gracias, McCord.
MCCORD: Hey, now!
I did not know the guard
was gonna take off the tape.
- It was cheap tape, Macho!
- Cheap fucking tape, Jim?
- You stuck it on, it fell off.
- (OVERLAPPING CHATTER)
LIDDY: (SHUSHES) Hey!
They are trying to break us.
- And we have to stick together.
- Agreed.
Dean has it all under control.
The payouts are the real crime,
but all the payments were made in cash,
so, therefore, it is untraceable. Right?
- Yeah.
- HOWARD: Right.
So ergo, if we do not cooperate
and everybody keeps their mouths shut,
the prosecution's case shrivels
and blows away
like dandelion seeds in the wind.
- (BLOWS)
- Very poetic, Gordon.
Oh! Give Silbert a message from me.
I'm not going to tell
him to go fuck himself.
So, why don't you go fuck yourself?
- (ALL CHUCKLE)
- LIDDY: You're taking all the fun out of it, Howard.
Hunt. Hey.
I've been meaning to ask you.
- How's the family?
- Why, thanks, Frank. Uh
They
(TENSE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
they're strong kids.
Well, just remember this.
If it wasn't an accident,
then Dorothy's plane had nothing to do
with our little trip to
Dallas all those years ago.
You understand me?
I think so.
You do what you gotta do
but let's not go rewriting
history, huh, okay?
Frank, uh
I wish I could.
(DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
These were taken on
a camera loaned to you
by the Central Intelligence Agency.
Apparently, you left the
film in when you returned it.
(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
(HOWARD CLEARS THROAT)
What does any of this
have to do with Watergate?
Well, that is what
we would like to know.
Where are the contents of
Mr. Hunt's White House safe?
- That's it?
- Mm-hmm.
HOWARD: Are you sure this is everything?
This is the entirety of
what was taken from my safe, Room 16?
- That's correct.
- No other notebooks?
- Folders?
- This is everything
that was turned over
to the FBI by John Dean.
Is there anything you'd like to tell us?
HOWARD: Christ!
Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!
- It's gone!
- What what's gone?
The GEMSTONE files,
Fielding notes, all gone!
Without those files, we're fucked!
That's why they're leaning
on us. The The White House!
They don't have anything
on the White House.
(BREATHES DEEPLY)
- (OMINOUS MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
- HOWARD: This is bad.
Liddy and I are going to
take the fall for everything.
Oh, God!
It was Dean!
H his name is all
over the GEMSTONE notes,
- along with Mitchell
- Don't say another word.
Jesus. I may need to get a lawyer.
If the FBI is in on it
what the hell am I supposed to do now?
I don't know.
You don't have a choice.
You need to make a deal.
JUDGE SIRICA: Mr. Hunt,
I will ask you once more,
were you and the rest acting on your own
or were you directed in
your actions by others?
Your rectitude and cooperation
are ready to be acknowledged
by the prosecution.
(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
Mr. Liddy and I
acted on our own
in what we thought were
the best interests
- of the country.
- If you say so.
Mr. Liddy, this is your last
chance to say something.
Oh! Uh, apologies, Your
Honor. I must have dozed off.
- (ALL LAUGH)
- JUDGE SIRICA: Silence!
- (GAVEL THUDDING)
- JUDGE SIRICA: Silence!
Mr. Liddy!
- Order in my court!
- (TENSE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
The Watergate bugging trial
continued in Washington today.
NEWSCASTER: Week two
of the Watergate trial
began with yet another
disruption by G. Gordon Liddy.
All seven defendants will be back
in court a week from today.
Both sides rested today in
the Watergate bugging trial,
and the case will go
to the jury tomorrow.
There no longer appears to be
any issue about what happened,
the bugging at the Watergate,
the infiltration of Muskie
and McGovern headquarters,
only about why it happened.
Daniel Schorr, CBS News,
at the federal courthouse in Washington.
Papa.
Um. The bank just called again.
Can you not stay off the phone, please?
Yeah.
Oh, I can do it.
Here.
(HOWARD CLEARS THROAT)
What do you think is gonna happen today?
With any luck, probation.
At the worst, a little
jail time.
Jail time?
Good day, sunshine.
I need a couple of blues. (SIGHS)
Could you save some of those for me?
LISA: Saint, are you okay?
(PENSIVE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
Saint?
Papa?
Can't you just tell the truth?
Please.
(CHUCKLES)
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
What's this?
Your wife's casserole dish.
- Oh, thank you. Hey, Howard
- BAILIFF: All rise.
The court is now in session.
The Honorable John Sirica presiding.
Let's get it over with.
JUDGE SIRICA: The court is
ready to hear the Jury's verdict.
But before I do that,
I have a written
statement from Mr. McCord,
which I will read.
"There was political pressure
applied to the defendants
- to remain silent."
- Coño su madre.
JUDGE SIRICA: (IN
during the trial. Others involved
in the Watergate operation
were not identified
during the trial, when
they could have been
by those testifying.
The Watergate operation
was not a CIA operation.
The Cubans may have been
misled by others into believing
that it was a CIA operation.
I know for a fact that it was not.
I would appreciate the opportunity
to talk with you privately in chambers."
(SCOFFS)
Mr. McCord, I'll see
you directly afterward.
Will the rest of the
defendants please rise?
Fucking piece of tape.
JUDGE SIRICA: Ladies and
gentlemen of the Jury.
- Have you reached a verdict?
- JUROR: We have, your honor.
In the case of the United
States versus George Gordon Liddy,
et al, we find the defendants guilty.
- (INDISTINCT CHATTER)
- (DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
Gentlemen, you will be sentenced
to the maximum allowable under the law.
For the men from Miami
a provisional 40 years.
For Mr. Liddy, 25 years.
For Howard Hunt
a provisional 35 years.
(GAVEL THUDDING)
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
The judge in the Watergate burglary
and eavesdropping trials said
today he is not satisfied.
The whole story came
out in the court room.
NEWSCASTER: Sirica expressed
hope that the upcoming
Senate investigation would
get to the bottom of the case.
The Senate's special Watergate
investigating committee
held its first formal
meeting today amid reports
that James McCord has implicated men
close to the president himself.
(DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
Eel skin wallet.
Twenty-three dollars in cash.
One class ring. Fordham University.
GUARD: Lift your stick.
This reminds me of
my frat days at Brown.
GUARD: Shut the fuck up!
- Lift your stick.
- Oh!
GUARD: Now, turn and spread 'em.
LIDDY: Clearly, you fellas take your job
of looking up people's
asses very seriously.
GUARD: I said spread 'em.
Drink it in, ladies! (LAUGHS MANICALLY)
INMATE 1: Hey, Watergate.
(INMATES CLAMOR, CHEER)
- INMATE 2: You looking good!
- INMATE 1: Watergate!
GUARD: Hey. Chow's at
seven. Don't be late.
(INMATES CONTINUE CLAMORING)
- Welcome to Camp Shithole.
- Bienvenido.
- HOWARD: Ah, aceres.
- Boss.
- HOWARD: How is it?
- We've been in worse.
Fellas, I'm dreadfully sorry.
(BOTH SPEAKING SPANISH)
We saved you a top bunk.
Uh-huh. No cockroaches.
(ALL LAUGH)
At least, they put us all together.
I guess we just shit the bed
so bad with those break-ins,
they probably thought, "There's no way
- these guys can break out."
- (ALL LAUGH)
Easy! Get off of me!
- Got my comb back.
- FRANK STURGIS: Your boy.
Word to the wise.
Hide everything of value.
These people are criminals in here.
HOWARD: Gordon.
A ten-cent comb in
your hair barely moves.
LIDDY: I had no choice, amigo.
Can't let these cons think
you're a candy ass! No sir!
Otherwise, you're gonna be in
the covered wagon before nightfall.
Covered wagon?
They drape a sheet over the bunk beds,
then they smash out your
teeth and they take turns
climbing into the wagon
and sodomizing your mouth.
Yeah. Broken teeth simulate a vagina.
And, or, a rectum.
Why would you have to simulate a rectum?
LIDDY: Yeah. Well, I
don't make the rules.
(HOWARD GROANS)
- You look like shit.
- It's my ulcer.
Well, you're gonna have to
start taking better care of yourself.
(GRUNTS)
MUSCULITO: Son of a bitch!
McCord is is a free man,
right now. Giving interviews.
That crackpot can't do
any real damage, can he?
Negative.
(GRUNTS)
He had no contact with the White House.
So the only person he can give up
is me.
- (GRUNTS)
- In John Dean, we trust.
Mr. Mitchell had approved,
according to Liddy. Do you
have personal knowledge
of Mr. Dean's, uh,
participation, or this
was this also according to Mr. Liddy?
Mr. Dean's participation came
to me through two sources.
One was Mr. Liddy
See? The buck stops with me.
One was Mr. Hunt. E. Howard Hunt.
Apparently, the buck stops with me, too.
McCord just tossed Dean
under the microscope.
So, how is that fair-haired
fuck supposed to protect us now?
SENATOR BAKER: And now Mr. McCord.
Did you did you engage
in any other break-ins
or wire taps on your own
or with with Mr. Hunt, uh, Mr. Liddy
or others such as the break-in,
uh, in Mr. Ellsberg's
psychiatrist office.
MCCORD: I did not.
Did you receive any money?
Yes, I did.
I received 3,000 dollars a month,
which the others received as well.
- (DOORBELL RINGS)
- David, could you get the door!
SAM DASH: And from whom
did you receive that money?
The wife of E. Howard Hunt, Mrs. Hunt.
Holy shit.
Did you have any knowledge, information,
or belief as to from where
this money came from?
I was told it came
from the Committee to Re-Elect
the President by Mrs. Hunt.
DAVID: Lisa! Saint! Help!
David? David! What
the fuck! Where is he?
- ST. JOHN: David!
- BUCKLEY: Don't be afraid.
- I'm a dear friend of your father and you've
- Mr. Buckley!
Mr. Buckley, what are
you doing? Let go of him!
My dear Lisa. Your
father wishes that David
sojourn with his godfather, Dr. Artime,
in Miami during his incarceration.
What? Miami?
And as your godfather, I am here
to smooth the transition
to the good doctor.
DR. ARTIME: David!
I have a toy for you!
What are you talking
about? You can't just
take him away from us.
David's not going
anywhere! This is our house.
Not anymore. Your father sold the house.
- (DAVID SCREAMS)
- Let go of him. Let go of him. Stop!
- Lisa!
- LISA: David!
- DAVID: Help me!
- (OMINOUS MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
- Lisa! Lisa!
- DR. ARTIME: ¡Muchacho!
You ready for your big adventure?
Liddy and Hunt are convicted
Watergate conspirators
and have been identified
as the men who burglarized
the office of Daniel
Ellsberg's psychiatrist
as part of an investigation
ordered by President Nixon.
Meanwhile the Federal Court
took possession of files
that former presidential
counsel John Dean,
removed from the White House.
Again today as he
has so often in the past,
the president sought to blame John Dean
for the White House part, if any,
in the Watergate cover-up.
News secretary Ronald Ziegler
was sent out to emphasize
that among top White House aides,
Dean and Dean alone
had the responsibility
for what was supposed to have been
Mr. Nixon's own personal investigation.
(HOWARD COUGHS)
LISA: How could you let them take David?
He was hysterical!
HOWARD: Now, hold on. He'll be
well taken care of. He's safe.
(COUGHS, CLEARS THROAT)
I have some really
good news for all of us.
My editor says that there
is considerable interest
in me writing under my own name now.
How is that good news?
A rising tide lifts all Hunts.
That is a giant bullshit lie, man.
No. One thing I will never, ever do
is lie to my children again.
ST. JOHN: I'm out of here.
You think you're some super spy?
You're not.
You're just a patsy doing
somebody else's jail time.
- Good luck with the novel, Papa.
- HOWARD: Saint! St. John!
Saint! Come back here!
What does he want from me?
Did it ever occur to you
that maybe you were wrong?
- Hmm?
- That the Democrats weren't in cahoots
with the Russians or Castro?
That you, you were the only ones
- breaking the law?
- If you believe that,
then your mother died for nothing!
They killed Mama! Don't you get it?
- People are writing about it.
- So then we're all in danger!
And you want me to go spouting off
about the president? You
want them to kill you?
David? All of us?
Anyway, your mother's
death, God rest her soul,
was a tragic accident.
She was a patriot
- like me.
- LISA: Yeah, well,
while you're in here
saluting your precious flag
John Dean is talking to the prosecutors.
- What?
- Guess he wanted to stay out of prison.
Then again
his wife is still alive.
(COUGHS)
Lisa. (COUGHS) Lisa!
LIDDY: I'll take a look at your appeal.
Okay. Just, uh
Thank you. Just don't
forget about the kosher meal.
Oh, I will petition
the warden posthaste.
- Thank you.
- Gordon.
How was the visit with the family?
Dean made a deal.
(DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
LIDDY: Scheisse!
Where's the Cubans?
Uh, Danbury. Transferred. Sturgis, too.
Left this morning while you were gone.
I didn't get to say goodbye.
No. No!
It's just you and me, amigo.
Yeah. Just us.
Vladimir and Estragon.
Are those Russkies?
Sure.
I told the President that I had gone
to the prosecutors. And
that I did not believe
that this was an act of disloyalty,
but rather in the end it
would be an act of loyalty.
I told Haldeman about the
meeting in Mitchell's office.
The President, almost from the
outset began asking me a number
- of leading questions
- INMATE: Look at that
fine, blonde piece of
ass Dean is fucking.
- (LIDDY SHUSHES)
- GUARD: Hey! Keep it down.
We're trying to watch.
If Dean winds up in here with us,
I was introduced to
a con in cell block D
who can silence him for
two cartons of Pall Malls.
Do you want to be in
here for your whole life?
They couldn't trace it to me.
First thing I would do
is I would punch a guard
directly in the face.
Second, get transferred
to solitary confinement
ipso facto,
they could never trace the
hit to me nor say I had done it.
And now you've just made me
an ipso fucking facto accessory
to murder.
Which made me think that the
conversation was being taped.
And that a record was being
made to protect himself.
- (ALL CLAMOR)
- Nixon taped himself?
- There's tapes!
- (SHUSHES)
These pardons are not forthcoming!
That dumb Quaker hired
us to bug the DNC,
meanwhile he was taping himself!
- This is all going to blow over.
- Oh, when, Gordon? How?
- Dean sold us out!
- (SHUSHES)
We are going to die in here!
We are never getting out!
We're never (BREATHES HEAVILY)
- (THUD)
- (INMATE GRUNTS)
Howard?
- INMATE: Oh, shit!
- That motherfucker's dead.
Not on my watch.
- (DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
- (BREATHES DEEPLY) Come on!
(GRUNTS)
One side, gentlemen.
Medic!
I do not know where that
press account came from.
The president did not
come out of his chair.
- I have never seen
- KEVAN HUNT: Papa.
the President come
out of his chair
- KEVAN: Papa.
- (INDISTINCT CHATTER ON TV)
HOWARD: Hi, Kevan.
What are you doing here?
You had a stroke.
Stroke?
(GROANS) I'm so glad you came.
I
truly I'm sorry for
all I put you through.
Not sorry enough.
(PENSIVE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
HOWARD: Oh, no
No, no, no
When Mr. McCord started
talking about Mama and the money
I kind of guessed what might be in here.
Please tell me you did not read that.
KEVAN: It's fascinating stuff.
I mean, payoffs, names, dollar amounts,
right down to the cent.
And you involved Mama, St. John
and me?
It's a wonder you didn't have David
making money drops with his lunch box!
HOWARD: Listen to me.
It it's it's
for the best interests
of our country.
What about the best
interests of your family?
- You mother wanted to help
- Don't talk about Mama!
Either you come clean and you tell
the Senate committee the truth
that you were taking
orders from the White House,
or I will turn this
over to the prosecutors.
- (OMINOUS MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
- Honey, please.
Listen to me. I will fix this.
Kevan!
Kevan!
Kevan.
I had no prior knowledge
of the Watergate break-in,
I neither took part
in nor knew about any
of the subsequent cover-up activities,
I neither authorized nor
encouraged subordinates
to engage in illegal or
improper campaign tactics.
That was and that is the simple truth.
(REPORTERS CLAMORING)
REPORTER 1: Gordon! How does it feel
to be out of prison
for the day to testify?
All this just for me, eh? (CHUCKLES)
Haven't you heard?
I'm not saying anything.
REPORTER 2: Gordon! How do you feel
about the president calling you a clown?
Enjoy the circus, boys! (LAUGHS)
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
(SIGHS)
It's about the only
private space we have.
That's fine. Nope.
- Uh. Could, uh
- (DOOR CLOSES)
(SIGHS)
Gordon.
John.
(CHUCKLES)
Well, look, uh, like you
I was prepared to do whatever it took
to protect the president.
- (SCOFFS)
- Until, well
the president called
me up to Camp David,
and he tried to get me
to write a whole report,
and then he started asking
me these questions
and I suddenly realized
the son of a bitch
is recording everything.
He was trying to get me to
implicate myself on tape.
(CHUCKLES)
I mean, can you imagine?
And at that moment it was
like, uh (CLICKS TONGUE)
it was like waking
from a fever dream, Gordon.
I I mean, here I was a
a a wild-eyed fanatic,
a true believer, and the
goddamned President
the almighty leader of
the conservative cause,
he couldn't care less about
it or me or you or or the
or the law or his country
or his staff or anything
other than covering his own ass.
And there's something
that you need to know.
If throwing me to the
wolves was his last resort
you wanna know what
his first instinct was?
The very first guy that he thought
to pin this whole thing
on? Give it a guess.
Go on, guess.
That's right.
It was you, Gordon.
He thought that you
were so blindly loyal,
such a complete and utter sap, moron,
a stooge that you would proudly
take the heat for everyone
- like a good, obedient little
- Mr. Dean?
They're ready for you.
See you around, Gordon.
(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
Nice glasses, John.
(DOOR CLOSES)
(BREATHES HEAVILY)
- (GRUNTS)
- (INDISTINCT CHATTER)
LIDDY: Uh, welcome back
to the land of the living.
I borrowed your book.
Buckley served under me in Mexico City.
Aren't you not supposed to tell me that?
Some spook you are.
I just heard Ehrlichman and Haldeman
are going to do time for perjury.
And Bud Krogh
actually turned down a plea deal.
Goddamn boy scout.
Krogh is a decent fellow
unlike that pantywaist Dean.
I swear to God, one more
word out of his mouth,
I would have embedded
my pencil in his brain.
I don't doubt it.
Oh, I've taken the liberty
of writing up a brief diet
and exercise regimen for you.
We need to talk.
LIDDY: All right. (GRUNTS)
¿Qué pasa?
Colson just told Time magazine
he thinks the CIA killed Dorothy.
That's bullshit.
I know who really killed her.
I did.
- LIDDY: Hmm.
- Every choice I made,
every word I said,
put her on that plane.
And I've got to live
with that every minute
for the rest of my life.
Hey. Dorothy made her own choices.
We all did.
I lost
everything.
So, what the hell am I doing here?
Who the hell are
are we still protecting
while someone else is raising my son?
We are protecting
our country, our way of life
and ourselves.
We are protecting
our honor.
Well, amigo, if you, me, and Bud Krogh
are the last honorable men in DC
then you've got to take a real hard look
at what honor's worth these days.
I'm going to cooperate
with the prosecution.
(TENSE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
Well, that is a
decision that you would regret
for the rest of your life.
Gordon
all I have left
is regret.
Whether I'm in here or not.
So that's it.
After all we've been through
after all we've done
you're just gonna leave me on the beach?
Cuidado, muchacho.
(BREATHES DEEPLY)
Let's get something straight, amigo.
The only reason that we
are in here is because of you.
Watergate break-in,
that was chicken shit!
The hush money!
That was the problem!
All because you needed
to maintain some
fancy phony-baloney
lifestyle! Four clubs?
Who belongs to four goddamn clubs?
Oh, just shut the hell up.
Stop this insane play-acting
and go home to your family.
I mean, hell.
They dropped all charges
against Dan Ellsberg because of us.
That pinko, that traitorous leaker
of state secrets, is a
free man. And we freed him.
You wanted to fight a war?
We just did. And we utterly
and irrevocably lost!
(CLICKS TONGUE)
That is a matter of
opinion. And I would
You are not some elite
Nazi stormtrooper, Gordon.
You're just a failed FBI
agent, a failed politician,
and a failed spy.
Do you know why Watergate went sideways?
Because you're so full of shit, Gordon,
that it is dripping out of your ears.
You
have no idea what I am capable of.
I'd hand you the pencil myself,
but we're not allowed to have them.
GUARD: Let's go, chow time! Line up!
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
GUARD: I said line up! Let's go!
Walk!
- (LIDDY GRUNTS)
- (GROANS)
GUARD 1: Move! Move!
- Two cartons of Pall Malls.
- GUARD 2: Ow!
- He broke my fucking nose!
- (LIDDY GRUNTING)
GUARD 2: Take that
motherfucker to solitary!
(LIDDY GRUNTS)
My country, ‘tis of thee ♪
Sweet land of liberty ♪
Of thee I sing ♪
WILLIAM O. BITTMAN: You ready?
Yes.
(DOOR OPENS)
- (INDISTINCT CHATTER)
- (CAMERA SHUTTERS CLICK)
(DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
SENATOR ERVIN: Do you
swear that the evidence
that you shall give to
the Senate Select Committee
on Presidential Campaign
Activities shall be the truth,
the whole truth and nothing
but the truth, so help you God?
I do.
DASH: Uh, Mr. Hunt,
do you have a statement
which you wish to read to the committee?
I do.
DASH: Could you read it please?
Mr. Chairman, members of the committee.
My name is E. Howard Hunt.
I am here today to
answer questions bearing
on your current investigation.
DASH: Mr. Hunt, I
think it would be better
if you took the microphone
and brought it closer
or more directly closer to your mouth.
I will describe my relationship
to the Watergate entry,
and the events which have
befallen me since that day.
I
was born in 1918 in Hamburg, New York.
My father was a lawyer and judge.
My mother was a pianist.
Two months ago, E.
Howard Hunt's testimony
would have been fascinating.
But at this point in time, it seems
to have been
overshadowed by other events.
The indictment of
John Ehrlichman and others
in the Ellsberg break-in
case, the continuing battle
over those White House
tapes, and of course
a separate scandal involving
Vice President Spiro Agnew.
I would like to reiterate that
while I was engaged in the activities
about which you have
been questioning me.
I believe that my actions
were taken with the
knowledge and approval
and under the direction
of high officials
of the government and
accordingly
that I was engaged in lawful acts.
(SOMBER MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
In conclusion
as I have said, I regret
my participation
but I do not think
that it justifies my conviction
or the
punishment
that has been imposed on me.
- Thank you.
- (LIDDY LAUGHS)
You're too late, you
dumb son of a bitch!
(LAUGHS)
(SOFT MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
Where is everybody?
You know, Dean's a hard act to follow.
- Yeah.
- But, hey, I, uh
I got you transferred to minimum
security, so that's something.
(HOWARD SIGHS)
(INDISTINCT ANNOUNCEMENT OVER PA)
Oh, I am getting retrials for
a lot of the Negro inmates.
Turns out a lot of these
fellows were wrongly convicted.
- Hmm.
- Oh!
And you are going to love this.
I am this close to getting kosher meals
for one of our Jewish inmates.
Freedman. Killed his brother.
Yup, apparently he had it coming.
Um, Gordon
is there something wrong with me?
What?
I know I'm no Maureen Dean,
but they're offering you
a deal to get out of prison early,
so is there some reason
you don't wanna come home?
Oh, Frannie.
I want to so badly that it hurts.
But the world now knows me as
the man who would not break.
Now, if nothing else, if all I've done
is to undermine the average
American's faith in government,
that will pay dividends
for the Republican Party
far into the future.
Well, what about me? Us?
Frannie, if you decided
that you needed to move on and
find someone less
I don't know, challenging
to live your life with, I
would completely understand.
- (FRAN SIGHS)
- Hell, at this point,
I might even recommend it. (SCOFFS)
Well, the suitors
aren't exactly lining up.
(CHUCKLES SOFTLY)
I'll wait.
We Liddys don't break.
- (CHUCKLES)
- That's my girl.
("I'LL BE YOUR MIRROR" BY THE
VELVET UNDERGROUND & NICO PLAYING) ♪
It is standing room only,
we are completely sold out.
DEAN: The whole tour is.
You know, uh, 80 million people
watched my testimony on TV.
It was honestly riveting, every moment.
- John.
- Well Yeah? Oh, thanks.
MARINA: I loved your book.
Would you mind terribly? (CHUCKLES)
Of course not. What's your name?
- Uh, Marina.
- Hmm. Hi, Marina.
I I hear they're doing a miniseries.
Do you know who's gonna be playing you?
Are you recording this conversation?
No. (LAUGHS)
Uh, we're talking to Martin Sheen.
PROVOST: So let's give a
big Brown University welcome
to John Dean!
- (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING)
- (MOUTHS) That's me.
I'll be your mirror ♪
Reflect what you are ♪
In case you don't
know I'll be the wind ♪
The rain and the sunset ♪
The light on your door ♪
Hey, Freedman. Here's
your fucking kosher meal.
There he is.
The man's handling my appeal for me.
I find it hard ♪
(INMATES APPLAUD)
But if you don't ♪
(INMATES CHEER, APPLAUD)
I'll be your mirror ♪
I'll be your mirror ♪
(SONG CONCLUDES) ♪
(SINGING IN GERMAN) ♪
("O DEUTSCHLAND
HOCH IN EHREN" PLAYS) ♪
(SONG CONCLUDES) ♪
(LAUNDRY MACHINES WHIRRING)
(SPEAKING SPANISH)
¿Bueno?
(SPEAKS SPANISH)
(BOTH CONVERSING IN SPANISH)
¿De verdad?
Flying back to California.
He forgot to take you, Watergate!
("MACARTHUR PARK" BY
DONNA SUMMER PLAYING) ♪
Spring was never
waiting for us, dear ♪
It ran one step ahead as
we followed in the dance ♪
MacArthur's Park is
melting in the dark ♪
- All the sweet green icing flowing down ♪
-
- Someone left the cake out in the rain ♪
-
- I don't think that I can take it ♪
-
- 'Cause it took so long to bake it ♪
-
- And I'll never have that recipe again ♪
-
- Oh, no! ♪
-
I recall the yellow cotton dress ♪
Foaming like a wave ♪
On the ground beneath your knees ♪
The birds, like tender
babies in your hands ♪
And the old men playing
Chinese checkers by the trees ♪
MacArthur's Park is
melting in the dark ♪
All the sweet green
icing flowing down ♪
Someone left the
cake out in the rain ♪
I don't think that I can take it ♪
'Cause it took so long to bake it ♪
And I'll never have
that recipe again ♪
Oh, no! ♪
MacArthur's Park is
melting in the dark ♪
All the sweet green
icing flowing down ♪
Someone left the
cake out in the rain ♪
I don't think that I can take it ♪
'Cause it took so long to bake it ♪
ST. JOHN HUNT: MacArthur's Park ♪
Is melting in the dark ♪
All the sweet green
icing flowing down ♪
You and I need to talk
before the trial.
Not now.
ST. JOHN: Because it
took so long to bake it ♪
And I'll never have
that recipe again ♪
I recall the yellow cotton dress ♪
Foaming like a wave ♪
On the ground around her knees ♪
- The birds ♪
- There are a couple of things
that we need to sort out
about Watergate, pronto.
- Like the book.
- Not now. Later.
Is melting in the dark ♪
All the sweet green icing ♪
Flowing down ♪
- (SOBS)
- LISA HUNT: Sit down.
Go sit down. It's okay.
- (SOMBER MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
- Later, when?
PRIEST: Bless this
gravestone with which we mark
the resting place of
Dorothy Wetzel Hunt.
Amen.
(BOTH SOB)
My condolences.
("WHITE HOUSE PLUMBERS"
THEME MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
(THEME MUSIC CONCLUDES) ♪
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
CHAPMAN: We're so sorry
for you and the family.
MOURNER: Everyone really loved Dorothy.
- Tough break, Howard.
- Thank you.
- (RAIN PATTERING)
- Thank you.
WILLIAM F. BUCKLEY
JR.: Howard. Dear Kevan.
My profound and fathomless condolences.
Howard, Dorothy was a classy lady.
Thank you, Doctor.
- (DR. MANUEL ARTIME SPEAKING SPANISH)
She's in a better place.
E. HOWARD HUNT: Thank you for coming.
Who was that with Mr. Buckley?
Dr. Artime. Uh
If Kennedy had done his goddamn job,
he'd be president of Cuba, right now.
I'm so sorry dear.
(SIGHS)
Your father is having
a rough time right now.
Because of your mother.
She bought me my first guitar.
G. GORDON LIDDY: Hmm.
I was so scared to play
it for him. (WHIMPERS)
Fear is a powerful tool.
When I was young
I was afraid of everything.
Rats in particular.
But one day when I was ten
I cornered the biggest
rat that I could find.
And I killed it.
Then cooked it.
And I ate it.
And after that, rats did
not bother me anymore.
Face your fears, son.
Has your father mentioned any new books
that he's been writing?
- (DRINK POURING)
- What?
Howard.
- Fran.
- FRAN LIDDY: How are the kids?
Do you need an extra
hand? I can come by?
I'm flying up the woman
who lived with us in Uruguay
- to help with David.
- It must be so overwhelming.
Never in my worst nightmares
would I have imagined my
own country turning on me.
(BREATHES SHAKILY)
- I might go to jail.
- Yes.
It is awful. Just awful.
But I meant David.
Oh, right. The boy,
uh, of course. What
Uh, David will be looked after.
When I was pregnant with our fourth,
Gordon came home and found me standing
in the doorway banging my
head against the door frame.
I was dog tired.
I didn't think I'd
survive, but here I am.
You'll find a way. Just
take care of the children.
Suppose if I was married to Gordon,
I would bang my head against the door
from time to time.
- (DOORBELL RINGING)
- (BOTH LAUGH)
- I needed a laugh.
- (FRAN LAUGHS)
- (DOORBELL RINGING)
- Excuse me.
Are you deaf? Answer the goddamn door!
- (DOORBELL RINGING)
- Excuse him.
HOWARD: I'm coming!
- Your father is
- An asshole.
He's scared.
Fear is a powerful tool.
Are you afraid of rats?
- Jim.
- JAMES W. MCCORD: Howard.
Oh, I'm sorry for the
intrusion but I came to pay
my condolences.
The wife made you a little something.
I figured nobody's doing
any cooking around here.
- Tuna.
- Hmm.
Well, thanks, Jim.
You know, that Dorothy's a fine woman.
- She was.
- Yeah.
Did you see that Nixon named
a new undersecretary of transportation?
One of his boys, uh, Egil Krogh?
- Bud Krogh?
- Oh, yeah.
I hadn't heard that.
You see, it turns out
now this Krogh fella
has oversight over all FAA
and NTSB investigations,
uh, including plane crashes.
Funny, huh?
I I I'm sure, it's a coincidence.
MCCORD: Of course.
It's just a coincidence.
All right, Howard, I'll
see you at the courthouse.
- Thanks, Jim.
- Oh, not for nothing,
but could you return
that empty casserole dish?
Uh, it is my wife's favorite.
- You bet, Jim.
- Well, thank you, Howard.
- (SOFT MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
- (INDISTINCT CHATTER)
(DR. ARTIME SPEAKING SPANISH)
Hey.
DR. ARTIME: David?
Do you know what a godfather does?
- No.
- If anything should happen to your father,
I will be your father.
Okay?
DAVID HUNT: Lisa!
LIDDY: Finally!
You think it's safe to talk?
Unless those birds are federal agents,
I'd say it's safe.
Did you know that Dorothy took out
a two-hundred-thousand-dollar
life insurance policy
right before she stepped on that plane?
- Yeah.
- Given the
influx of insurance money,
I'm hoping you have
considered not doing some
of the things that you were
- you know, considering doing.
- For Christ's sake, Gordon,
I'm not writing the fucking book!
- Is that why you came?
- No! No.
Her plane got rerouted
at the last minute
they turned off the runway lights.
The FBI beat the firemen there.
They beat them there,
Gordon. Dozens of agents!
- (SHUSHES) Calm down.
- Yeah, but don't you see?
The firemen always get there first.
And then they call the NTSB.
And if and only if the NTSB
finds anything suspicious
do they call the FBI.
So, how the hell did
the FBI get there first?
So, you think that the FBI took down
an entire United Airlines
737 just to shut you up
about Watergate?
Not just Watergate, Gordon.
- I said some things.
- Why not just kill you, hmm?
Hell, thought's occurred
to me several times.
Did Dot sense something
or did she see someone?
Why the hell did she
take out the insurance?
- Howard, take a deep breath.
- (BREATHES DEEPLY)
You're my friend. And
you have to stay strong.
We need to leave this
meeting on the same page.
¿Comprende?
isn't a meeting, Gordon,
It's a funeral.
(SIGHS)
(GRUNTS)
- All packed up for the morning?
- You know, I don't have to go.
Sweetie, I think your
mother would want at least
- one of her kids to graduate.
- (CHUCKLES)
- You okay, Papa?
- There's something
of your mother's I have.
Her camel hair coat?
No. That
she was wearing on the plane.
Never mind.
Good night.
What is that?
Nothing.
Well, if it belonged to Mama, I want it.
(OMINOUS MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
What is it?
I can't tell you.
I will simply say this.
What's inside this envelope
could be dangerous to
what's left of this family.
I don't understand.
Then destroy it.
I need to be able to say
under oath that I didn't.
Do you want me to destroy it?
I can't tell you to do that either.
You're the only one I can trust.
Only you, pumpkin.
- Goodnight.
- Goodnight, Papa.
(MUSIC TURNS SINISTER, FADES) ♪
- (INTERCOM BEEPS)
- SECRETARY: Mr. Dean?
Someone claiming to be George
McGovern is on the phone.
Put him through.
(TELEPHONE RINGS)
Gordon.
I have serious concerns
about Hunt's stability.
I don't know how long
he can take the pressure
without cracking. What can I bring him
to tide him over, calm him down?
Just tell I'm taking care of it.
The the Plumbers
will get living expenses
of 30,000 per annum, plus legal fees.
And, uh
you'll do time, but at Danbury.
Not bad. How long?
Uh, you'll get a
presidential pardon within
- two years.
- LIDDY: Right.
Just so we're clear
I am a soldier.
And I can keep my mouth
shut no matter what.
But I'm not sure two years
is gonna cut it for Hunt.
JOHN DEAN: I don't know
what you expect me to do.
There are limits to what is possible,
given the circumstances.
Understood.
Should, um (CLICKS TONGUE)
prophylactic action
need to be taken?
Wh what are you talking about?
To ensure his enduring silence.
I am prepared to use any
and all means and methods
at my disposal.
Think about it.
- I will wait for a signal.
- What?
Is that the signal?
DEAN: Do not break another goddamn law.
Not a parking ticket. No
jaywalking. Understood?
See if you can do better than two years.
Remember, you're in
deeper shit than we are.
We just planted a few bugs.
All that money you gave us?
That is some big-time obstruction
for the White House.
That is a federal
Hello?
I'm heading over to the West Wing.
Tell them I need five
minutes with the president.
(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
Fucking little prick!
RICHARD NIXON: Under my direction, uh,
counsel to the president, Mr. Dean,
has conducted a complete investigation
of all leads which might involve any
or anybody in the government.
And I can say categorically
that his investigation
indicates that no one in
the White House staff,
no one in this administration,
presently employed,
uh, was involved in this
very bizarre incident.
The trial of those formally charged
with breaking into
Democratic Party headquarters
is about to start.
Daniel Schorr reports.
DANIEL SCHORR: From
the Watergate building
two miles away to
this federal courthouse
has stretched a
six-month road, detouring
through sensational newspaper reports
and the presidential election campaign.
So this could be a
trial of just seven men
or it could develop into
a political sensation.
It promises at any rate
to be the greatest drama
of politics on trial
that this courthouse
has ever seen.
- REPORTER 1: Is that Liddy?
- REPORTER 2: Yeah, it is.
- Gordon! Gordon! Gordon.
- (REPORTERS CLAMORING)
LAWYER: Hey, folks. Come on, back up!
Give us some space! Yeah,
yeah. Give him some space.
Hey, we've got a we've got a hearing
in five minutes, okay?
LIDDY: Hello! Top of the morning!
- (INDISTINCT CHATTER)
- LIDDY: Hello!
Are you sure you don't
want me to be there?
Oh, no, no, no.
I'm going to act like a jackass,
piss off the prosecution,
force a few errors, take
the whole thing to appeals
and get it all thrown out.
Seeing you in the gallery,
I might be forced to
remember my manners.
(FRAN SCOFFS)
(CAMERA SHUTTERS CLICK)
- Good Morning, gentlemen!
- REPORTER 2: Morning, Gordon.
- Good morning!
- Gordon, could you give us a statement?
Yes, I could.
Come in, please. Get this down.
My statement
is that I have nothing
whatsoever to state.
- (INDISTINCT CHATTER)
- (LAUGHS)
REPORTER 3: Mr. Hunt.
Howard! Howard! Mr. Hunt.
Howard, how are you gonna plead?
REPORTER 4: Mr. Hunt,
did the White House know?
My client is a patriot and a veteran
who served his country in wartime!
He is here to be judged
by a jury of his peers.
(REPORTERS CLAMOR)
JUDGE JOHN SIRICA: We
are back on the record
in the matter of criminal
case number 1827-72.
The United States of America
versus George Gordon Liddy et al.
Mr. Silbert, are you prepared
with your opening statement?
Yes, I am, Your Honor.
This jury is gonna
wanna know the purpose.
What did these men go
into the headquarters for?
Was their sole
purpose political espionage?
Were they paid?
Were there financial gains?
Who started it?
(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
Who hired them? If anyone hired them?
A whole lot is gonna
come out in this case.
Is he the, uh, judge or the prosecutor?
More like the executioner.
EARL SILBERT: Your Honor,
ladies and gentlemen of the jury
the men you see before you
are criminals, to be sure.
The operation was directed
against the Democratic Party,
specifically Senator George McGovern,
because of his alleged left-wing views.
Certainly the facts will suggest to you,
based on the information
we produce before you
- there was a financial motive here.
- JUDGE SIRICA: (QUIETLY) Oh, God.
Thank you, Mr. Silbert.
(GAVEL THUDDING)
HOWARD: What was all that nonsense
about financial motives?
- We did not rob a bank.
- No, we did not.
HOWARD: Why do they
think it's about money?
The FBI has everything in my safe,
all my notes on GEMSTONE, Fielding.
Mitchell, Dean, Krogh,
- that shit heel Magruder
- Nixon?
(SHUSHES) The point is,
the prosecutors should
know why we did what we did.
Well, sometimes I find it confusing.
- And we did it!
- HOWARD: I don't get their strategy!
BERNARD "MACHO" BARKER: Hmm.
Gentlemen, join us!
LIDDY: It's a far cry
from the Cosmos Club,
- isn't it, Howard?
- HOWARD: Indeed.
I'm starving.
Uh, sorry. Are we keeping you?
I have a meeting with Silbert.
You're talking to the prosecutors?
It's a discovery meeting. With Bittman.
To see the evidence
- from my safe.
- Okay.
- Any of you talk to McCord?
- I'd like to discuss
a little piece of tape
- with that son of a
- MCCORD: Hey there, fellas.
- MACHO: Hola.
- Jim.
Hey, mind if I squeeze in?
Just
Sorry, can I borrow the
(ROLANDO "MUSCULITO"
MARTINEZ SPEAKING SPANISH)
- (INDISTINCT CHATTER)
- By all means.
- Now, what's
what's the word on clemency?
I have been in contact with Dean.
- Oh, really?
- Yeah.
We all plead not guilty.
- ¿No culpable?
- Oh, yeah. That's a great plan.
Unlike you two sideline Sallies,
we were arrested inside the DNC.
- Uh-huh.
- Right?
- VIRGILIO "VILLO" GONZÁLEZ: Sí.
- Gracias, McCord.
MCCORD: Hey, now!
I did not know the guard
was gonna take off the tape.
- It was cheap tape, Macho!
- Cheap fucking tape, Jim?
- You stuck it on, it fell off.
- (OVERLAPPING CHATTER)
LIDDY: (SHUSHES) Hey!
They are trying to break us.
- And we have to stick together.
- Agreed.
Dean has it all under control.
The payouts are the real crime,
but all the payments were made in cash,
so, therefore, it is untraceable. Right?
- Yeah.
- HOWARD: Right.
So ergo, if we do not cooperate
and everybody keeps their mouths shut,
the prosecution's case shrivels
and blows away
like dandelion seeds in the wind.
- (BLOWS)
- Very poetic, Gordon.
Oh! Give Silbert a message from me.
I'm not going to tell
him to go fuck himself.
So, why don't you go fuck yourself?
- (ALL CHUCKLE)
- LIDDY: You're taking all the fun out of it, Howard.
Hunt. Hey.
I've been meaning to ask you.
- How's the family?
- Why, thanks, Frank. Uh
They
(TENSE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
they're strong kids.
Well, just remember this.
If it wasn't an accident,
then Dorothy's plane had nothing to do
with our little trip to
Dallas all those years ago.
You understand me?
I think so.
You do what you gotta do
but let's not go rewriting
history, huh, okay?
Frank, uh
I wish I could.
(DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
These were taken on
a camera loaned to you
by the Central Intelligence Agency.
Apparently, you left the
film in when you returned it.
(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
(HOWARD CLEARS THROAT)
What does any of this
have to do with Watergate?
Well, that is what
we would like to know.
Where are the contents of
Mr. Hunt's White House safe?
- That's it?
- Mm-hmm.
HOWARD: Are you sure this is everything?
This is the entirety of
what was taken from my safe, Room 16?
- That's correct.
- No other notebooks?
- Folders?
- This is everything
that was turned over
to the FBI by John Dean.
Is there anything you'd like to tell us?
HOWARD: Christ!
Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!
- It's gone!
- What what's gone?
The GEMSTONE files,
Fielding notes, all gone!
Without those files, we're fucked!
That's why they're leaning
on us. The The White House!
They don't have anything
on the White House.
(BREATHES DEEPLY)
- (OMINOUS MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
- HOWARD: This is bad.
Liddy and I are going to
take the fall for everything.
Oh, God!
It was Dean!
H his name is all
over the GEMSTONE notes,
- along with Mitchell
- Don't say another word.
Jesus. I may need to get a lawyer.
If the FBI is in on it
what the hell am I supposed to do now?
I don't know.
You don't have a choice.
You need to make a deal.
JUDGE SIRICA: Mr. Hunt,
I will ask you once more,
were you and the rest acting on your own
or were you directed in
your actions by others?
Your rectitude and cooperation
are ready to be acknowledged
by the prosecution.
(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
Mr. Liddy and I
acted on our own
in what we thought were
the best interests
- of the country.
- If you say so.
Mr. Liddy, this is your last
chance to say something.
Oh! Uh, apologies, Your
Honor. I must have dozed off.
- (ALL LAUGH)
- JUDGE SIRICA: Silence!
- (GAVEL THUDDING)
- JUDGE SIRICA: Silence!
Mr. Liddy!
- Order in my court!
- (TENSE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
The Watergate bugging trial
continued in Washington today.
NEWSCASTER: Week two
of the Watergate trial
began with yet another
disruption by G. Gordon Liddy.
All seven defendants will be back
in court a week from today.
Both sides rested today in
the Watergate bugging trial,
and the case will go
to the jury tomorrow.
There no longer appears to be
any issue about what happened,
the bugging at the Watergate,
the infiltration of Muskie
and McGovern headquarters,
only about why it happened.
Daniel Schorr, CBS News,
at the federal courthouse in Washington.
Papa.
Um. The bank just called again.
Can you not stay off the phone, please?
Yeah.
Oh, I can do it.
Here.
(HOWARD CLEARS THROAT)
What do you think is gonna happen today?
With any luck, probation.
At the worst, a little
jail time.
Jail time?
Good day, sunshine.
I need a couple of blues. (SIGHS)
Could you save some of those for me?
LISA: Saint, are you okay?
(PENSIVE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
Saint?
Papa?
Can't you just tell the truth?
Please.
(CHUCKLES)
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
What's this?
Your wife's casserole dish.
- Oh, thank you. Hey, Howard
- BAILIFF: All rise.
The court is now in session.
The Honorable John Sirica presiding.
Let's get it over with.
JUDGE SIRICA: The court is
ready to hear the Jury's verdict.
But before I do that,
I have a written
statement from Mr. McCord,
which I will read.
"There was political pressure
applied to the defendants
- to remain silent."
- Coño su madre.
JUDGE SIRICA: (IN
during the trial. Others involved
in the Watergate operation
were not identified
during the trial, when
they could have been
by those testifying.
The Watergate operation
was not a CIA operation.
The Cubans may have been
misled by others into believing
that it was a CIA operation.
I know for a fact that it was not.
I would appreciate the opportunity
to talk with you privately in chambers."
(SCOFFS)
Mr. McCord, I'll see
you directly afterward.
Will the rest of the
defendants please rise?
Fucking piece of tape.
JUDGE SIRICA: Ladies and
gentlemen of the Jury.
- Have you reached a verdict?
- JUROR: We have, your honor.
In the case of the United
States versus George Gordon Liddy,
et al, we find the defendants guilty.
- (INDISTINCT CHATTER)
- (DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
Gentlemen, you will be sentenced
to the maximum allowable under the law.
For the men from Miami
a provisional 40 years.
For Mr. Liddy, 25 years.
For Howard Hunt
a provisional 35 years.
(GAVEL THUDDING)
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
The judge in the Watergate burglary
and eavesdropping trials said
today he is not satisfied.
The whole story came
out in the court room.
NEWSCASTER: Sirica expressed
hope that the upcoming
Senate investigation would
get to the bottom of the case.
The Senate's special Watergate
investigating committee
held its first formal
meeting today amid reports
that James McCord has implicated men
close to the president himself.
(DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
Eel skin wallet.
Twenty-three dollars in cash.
One class ring. Fordham University.
GUARD: Lift your stick.
This reminds me of
my frat days at Brown.
GUARD: Shut the fuck up!
- Lift your stick.
- Oh!
GUARD: Now, turn and spread 'em.
LIDDY: Clearly, you fellas take your job
of looking up people's
asses very seriously.
GUARD: I said spread 'em.
Drink it in, ladies! (LAUGHS MANICALLY)
INMATE 1: Hey, Watergate.
(INMATES CLAMOR, CHEER)
- INMATE 2: You looking good!
- INMATE 1: Watergate!
GUARD: Hey. Chow's at
seven. Don't be late.
(INMATES CONTINUE CLAMORING)
- Welcome to Camp Shithole.
- Bienvenido.
- HOWARD: Ah, aceres.
- Boss.
- HOWARD: How is it?
- We've been in worse.
Fellas, I'm dreadfully sorry.
(BOTH SPEAKING SPANISH)
We saved you a top bunk.
Uh-huh. No cockroaches.
(ALL LAUGH)
At least, they put us all together.
I guess we just shit the bed
so bad with those break-ins,
they probably thought, "There's no way
- these guys can break out."
- (ALL LAUGH)
Easy! Get off of me!
- Got my comb back.
- FRANK STURGIS: Your boy.
Word to the wise.
Hide everything of value.
These people are criminals in here.
HOWARD: Gordon.
A ten-cent comb in
your hair barely moves.
LIDDY: I had no choice, amigo.
Can't let these cons think
you're a candy ass! No sir!
Otherwise, you're gonna be in
the covered wagon before nightfall.
Covered wagon?
They drape a sheet over the bunk beds,
then they smash out your
teeth and they take turns
climbing into the wagon
and sodomizing your mouth.
Yeah. Broken teeth simulate a vagina.
And, or, a rectum.
Why would you have to simulate a rectum?
LIDDY: Yeah. Well, I
don't make the rules.
(HOWARD GROANS)
- You look like shit.
- It's my ulcer.
Well, you're gonna have to
start taking better care of yourself.
(GRUNTS)
MUSCULITO: Son of a bitch!
McCord is is a free man,
right now. Giving interviews.
That crackpot can't do
any real damage, can he?
Negative.
(GRUNTS)
He had no contact with the White House.
So the only person he can give up
is me.
- (GRUNTS)
- In John Dean, we trust.
Mr. Mitchell had approved,
according to Liddy. Do you
have personal knowledge
of Mr. Dean's, uh,
participation, or this
was this also according to Mr. Liddy?
Mr. Dean's participation came
to me through two sources.
One was Mr. Liddy
See? The buck stops with me.
One was Mr. Hunt. E. Howard Hunt.
Apparently, the buck stops with me, too.
McCord just tossed Dean
under the microscope.
So, how is that fair-haired
fuck supposed to protect us now?
SENATOR BAKER: And now Mr. McCord.
Did you did you engage
in any other break-ins
or wire taps on your own
or with with Mr. Hunt, uh, Mr. Liddy
or others such as the break-in,
uh, in Mr. Ellsberg's
psychiatrist office.
MCCORD: I did not.
Did you receive any money?
Yes, I did.
I received 3,000 dollars a month,
which the others received as well.
- (DOORBELL RINGS)
- David, could you get the door!
SAM DASH: And from whom
did you receive that money?
The wife of E. Howard Hunt, Mrs. Hunt.
Holy shit.
Did you have any knowledge, information,
or belief as to from where
this money came from?
I was told it came
from the Committee to Re-Elect
the President by Mrs. Hunt.
DAVID: Lisa! Saint! Help!
David? David! What
the fuck! Where is he?
- ST. JOHN: David!
- BUCKLEY: Don't be afraid.
- I'm a dear friend of your father and you've
- Mr. Buckley!
Mr. Buckley, what are
you doing? Let go of him!
My dear Lisa. Your
father wishes that David
sojourn with his godfather, Dr. Artime,
in Miami during his incarceration.
What? Miami?
And as your godfather, I am here
to smooth the transition
to the good doctor.
DR. ARTIME: David!
I have a toy for you!
What are you talking
about? You can't just
take him away from us.
David's not going
anywhere! This is our house.
Not anymore. Your father sold the house.
- (DAVID SCREAMS)
- Let go of him. Let go of him. Stop!
- Lisa!
- LISA: David!
- DAVID: Help me!
- (OMINOUS MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
- Lisa! Lisa!
- DR. ARTIME: ¡Muchacho!
You ready for your big adventure?
Liddy and Hunt are convicted
Watergate conspirators
and have been identified
as the men who burglarized
the office of Daniel
Ellsberg's psychiatrist
as part of an investigation
ordered by President Nixon.
Meanwhile the Federal Court
took possession of files
that former presidential
counsel John Dean,
removed from the White House.
Again today as he
has so often in the past,
the president sought to blame John Dean
for the White House part, if any,
in the Watergate cover-up.
News secretary Ronald Ziegler
was sent out to emphasize
that among top White House aides,
Dean and Dean alone
had the responsibility
for what was supposed to have been
Mr. Nixon's own personal investigation.
(HOWARD COUGHS)
LISA: How could you let them take David?
He was hysterical!
HOWARD: Now, hold on. He'll be
well taken care of. He's safe.
(COUGHS, CLEARS THROAT)
I have some really
good news for all of us.
My editor says that there
is considerable interest
in me writing under my own name now.
How is that good news?
A rising tide lifts all Hunts.
That is a giant bullshit lie, man.
No. One thing I will never, ever do
is lie to my children again.
ST. JOHN: I'm out of here.
You think you're some super spy?
You're not.
You're just a patsy doing
somebody else's jail time.
- Good luck with the novel, Papa.
- HOWARD: Saint! St. John!
Saint! Come back here!
What does he want from me?
Did it ever occur to you
that maybe you were wrong?
- Hmm?
- That the Democrats weren't in cahoots
with the Russians or Castro?
That you, you were the only ones
- breaking the law?
- If you believe that,
then your mother died for nothing!
They killed Mama! Don't you get it?
- People are writing about it.
- So then we're all in danger!
And you want me to go spouting off
about the president? You
want them to kill you?
David? All of us?
Anyway, your mother's
death, God rest her soul,
was a tragic accident.
She was a patriot
- like me.
- LISA: Yeah, well,
while you're in here
saluting your precious flag
John Dean is talking to the prosecutors.
- What?
- Guess he wanted to stay out of prison.
Then again
his wife is still alive.
(COUGHS)
Lisa. (COUGHS) Lisa!
LIDDY: I'll take a look at your appeal.
Okay. Just, uh
Thank you. Just don't
forget about the kosher meal.
Oh, I will petition
the warden posthaste.
- Thank you.
- Gordon.
How was the visit with the family?
Dean made a deal.
(DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
LIDDY: Scheisse!
Where's the Cubans?
Uh, Danbury. Transferred. Sturgis, too.
Left this morning while you were gone.
I didn't get to say goodbye.
No. No!
It's just you and me, amigo.
Yeah. Just us.
Vladimir and Estragon.
Are those Russkies?
Sure.
I told the President that I had gone
to the prosecutors. And
that I did not believe
that this was an act of disloyalty,
but rather in the end it
would be an act of loyalty.
I told Haldeman about the
meeting in Mitchell's office.
The President, almost from the
outset began asking me a number
- of leading questions
- INMATE: Look at that
fine, blonde piece of
ass Dean is fucking.
- (LIDDY SHUSHES)
- GUARD: Hey! Keep it down.
We're trying to watch.
If Dean winds up in here with us,
I was introduced to
a con in cell block D
who can silence him for
two cartons of Pall Malls.
Do you want to be in
here for your whole life?
They couldn't trace it to me.
First thing I would do
is I would punch a guard
directly in the face.
Second, get transferred
to solitary confinement
ipso facto,
they could never trace the
hit to me nor say I had done it.
And now you've just made me
an ipso fucking facto accessory
to murder.
Which made me think that the
conversation was being taped.
And that a record was being
made to protect himself.
- (ALL CLAMOR)
- Nixon taped himself?
- There's tapes!
- (SHUSHES)
These pardons are not forthcoming!
That dumb Quaker hired
us to bug the DNC,
meanwhile he was taping himself!
- This is all going to blow over.
- Oh, when, Gordon? How?
- Dean sold us out!
- (SHUSHES)
We are going to die in here!
We are never getting out!
We're never (BREATHES HEAVILY)
- (THUD)
- (INMATE GRUNTS)
Howard?
- INMATE: Oh, shit!
- That motherfucker's dead.
Not on my watch.
- (DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
- (BREATHES DEEPLY) Come on!
(GRUNTS)
One side, gentlemen.
Medic!
I do not know where that
press account came from.
The president did not
come out of his chair.
- I have never seen
- KEVAN HUNT: Papa.
the President come
out of his chair
- KEVAN: Papa.
- (INDISTINCT CHATTER ON TV)
HOWARD: Hi, Kevan.
What are you doing here?
You had a stroke.
Stroke?
(GROANS) I'm so glad you came.
I
truly I'm sorry for
all I put you through.
Not sorry enough.
(PENSIVE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
HOWARD: Oh, no
No, no, no
When Mr. McCord started
talking about Mama and the money
I kind of guessed what might be in here.
Please tell me you did not read that.
KEVAN: It's fascinating stuff.
I mean, payoffs, names, dollar amounts,
right down to the cent.
And you involved Mama, St. John
and me?
It's a wonder you didn't have David
making money drops with his lunch box!
HOWARD: Listen to me.
It it's it's
for the best interests
of our country.
What about the best
interests of your family?
- You mother wanted to help
- Don't talk about Mama!
Either you come clean and you tell
the Senate committee the truth
that you were taking
orders from the White House,
or I will turn this
over to the prosecutors.
- (OMINOUS MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
- Honey, please.
Listen to me. I will fix this.
Kevan!
Kevan!
Kevan.
I had no prior knowledge
of the Watergate break-in,
I neither took part
in nor knew about any
of the subsequent cover-up activities,
I neither authorized nor
encouraged subordinates
to engage in illegal or
improper campaign tactics.
That was and that is the simple truth.
(REPORTERS CLAMORING)
REPORTER 1: Gordon! How does it feel
to be out of prison
for the day to testify?
All this just for me, eh? (CHUCKLES)
Haven't you heard?
I'm not saying anything.
REPORTER 2: Gordon! How do you feel
about the president calling you a clown?
Enjoy the circus, boys! (LAUGHS)
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
(SIGHS)
It's about the only
private space we have.
That's fine. Nope.
- Uh. Could, uh
- (DOOR CLOSES)
(SIGHS)
Gordon.
John.
(CHUCKLES)
Well, look, uh, like you
I was prepared to do whatever it took
to protect the president.
- (SCOFFS)
- Until, well
the president called
me up to Camp David,
and he tried to get me
to write a whole report,
and then he started asking
me these questions
and I suddenly realized
the son of a bitch
is recording everything.
He was trying to get me to
implicate myself on tape.
(CHUCKLES)
I mean, can you imagine?
And at that moment it was
like, uh (CLICKS TONGUE)
it was like waking
from a fever dream, Gordon.
I I mean, here I was a
a a wild-eyed fanatic,
a true believer, and the
goddamned President
the almighty leader of
the conservative cause,
he couldn't care less about
it or me or you or or the
or the law or his country
or his staff or anything
other than covering his own ass.
And there's something
that you need to know.
If throwing me to the
wolves was his last resort
you wanna know what
his first instinct was?
The very first guy that he thought
to pin this whole thing
on? Give it a guess.
Go on, guess.
That's right.
It was you, Gordon.
He thought that you
were so blindly loyal,
such a complete and utter sap, moron,
a stooge that you would proudly
take the heat for everyone
- like a good, obedient little
- Mr. Dean?
They're ready for you.
See you around, Gordon.
(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
Nice glasses, John.
(DOOR CLOSES)
(BREATHES HEAVILY)
- (GRUNTS)
- (INDISTINCT CHATTER)
LIDDY: Uh, welcome back
to the land of the living.
I borrowed your book.
Buckley served under me in Mexico City.
Aren't you not supposed to tell me that?
Some spook you are.
I just heard Ehrlichman and Haldeman
are going to do time for perjury.
And Bud Krogh
actually turned down a plea deal.
Goddamn boy scout.
Krogh is a decent fellow
unlike that pantywaist Dean.
I swear to God, one more
word out of his mouth,
I would have embedded
my pencil in his brain.
I don't doubt it.
Oh, I've taken the liberty
of writing up a brief diet
and exercise regimen for you.
We need to talk.
LIDDY: All right. (GRUNTS)
¿Qué pasa?
Colson just told Time magazine
he thinks the CIA killed Dorothy.
That's bullshit.
I know who really killed her.
I did.
- LIDDY: Hmm.
- Every choice I made,
every word I said,
put her on that plane.
And I've got to live
with that every minute
for the rest of my life.
Hey. Dorothy made her own choices.
We all did.
I lost
everything.
So, what the hell am I doing here?
Who the hell are
are we still protecting
while someone else is raising my son?
We are protecting
our country, our way of life
and ourselves.
We are protecting
our honor.
Well, amigo, if you, me, and Bud Krogh
are the last honorable men in DC
then you've got to take a real hard look
at what honor's worth these days.
I'm going to cooperate
with the prosecution.
(TENSE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
Well, that is a
decision that you would regret
for the rest of your life.
Gordon
all I have left
is regret.
Whether I'm in here or not.
So that's it.
After all we've been through
after all we've done
you're just gonna leave me on the beach?
Cuidado, muchacho.
(BREATHES DEEPLY)
Let's get something straight, amigo.
The only reason that we
are in here is because of you.
Watergate break-in,
that was chicken shit!
The hush money!
That was the problem!
All because you needed
to maintain some
fancy phony-baloney
lifestyle! Four clubs?
Who belongs to four goddamn clubs?
Oh, just shut the hell up.
Stop this insane play-acting
and go home to your family.
I mean, hell.
They dropped all charges
against Dan Ellsberg because of us.
That pinko, that traitorous leaker
of state secrets, is a
free man. And we freed him.
You wanted to fight a war?
We just did. And we utterly
and irrevocably lost!
(CLICKS TONGUE)
That is a matter of
opinion. And I would
You are not some elite
Nazi stormtrooper, Gordon.
You're just a failed FBI
agent, a failed politician,
and a failed spy.
Do you know why Watergate went sideways?
Because you're so full of shit, Gordon,
that it is dripping out of your ears.
You
have no idea what I am capable of.
I'd hand you the pencil myself,
but we're not allowed to have them.
GUARD: Let's go, chow time! Line up!
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
GUARD: I said line up! Let's go!
Walk!
- (LIDDY GRUNTS)
- (GROANS)
GUARD 1: Move! Move!
- Two cartons of Pall Malls.
- GUARD 2: Ow!
- He broke my fucking nose!
- (LIDDY GRUNTING)
GUARD 2: Take that
motherfucker to solitary!
(LIDDY GRUNTS)
My country, ‘tis of thee ♪
Sweet land of liberty ♪
Of thee I sing ♪
WILLIAM O. BITTMAN: You ready?
Yes.
(DOOR OPENS)
- (INDISTINCT CHATTER)
- (CAMERA SHUTTERS CLICK)
(DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
SENATOR ERVIN: Do you
swear that the evidence
that you shall give to
the Senate Select Committee
on Presidential Campaign
Activities shall be the truth,
the whole truth and nothing
but the truth, so help you God?
I do.
DASH: Uh, Mr. Hunt,
do you have a statement
which you wish to read to the committee?
I do.
DASH: Could you read it please?
Mr. Chairman, members of the committee.
My name is E. Howard Hunt.
I am here today to
answer questions bearing
on your current investigation.
DASH: Mr. Hunt, I
think it would be better
if you took the microphone
and brought it closer
or more directly closer to your mouth.
I will describe my relationship
to the Watergate entry,
and the events which have
befallen me since that day.
I
was born in 1918 in Hamburg, New York.
My father was a lawyer and judge.
My mother was a pianist.
Two months ago, E.
Howard Hunt's testimony
would have been fascinating.
But at this point in time, it seems
to have been
overshadowed by other events.
The indictment of
John Ehrlichman and others
in the Ellsberg break-in
case, the continuing battle
over those White House
tapes, and of course
a separate scandal involving
Vice President Spiro Agnew.
I would like to reiterate that
while I was engaged in the activities
about which you have
been questioning me.
I believe that my actions
were taken with the
knowledge and approval
and under the direction
of high officials
of the government and
accordingly
that I was engaged in lawful acts.
(SOMBER MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
In conclusion
as I have said, I regret
my participation
but I do not think
that it justifies my conviction
or the
punishment
that has been imposed on me.
- Thank you.
- (LIDDY LAUGHS)
You're too late, you
dumb son of a bitch!
(LAUGHS)
(SOFT MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
Where is everybody?
You know, Dean's a hard act to follow.
- Yeah.
- But, hey, I, uh
I got you transferred to minimum
security, so that's something.
(HOWARD SIGHS)
(INDISTINCT ANNOUNCEMENT OVER PA)
Oh, I am getting retrials for
a lot of the Negro inmates.
Turns out a lot of these
fellows were wrongly convicted.
- Hmm.
- Oh!
And you are going to love this.
I am this close to getting kosher meals
for one of our Jewish inmates.
Freedman. Killed his brother.
Yup, apparently he had it coming.
Um, Gordon
is there something wrong with me?
What?
I know I'm no Maureen Dean,
but they're offering you
a deal to get out of prison early,
so is there some reason
you don't wanna come home?
Oh, Frannie.
I want to so badly that it hurts.
But the world now knows me as
the man who would not break.
Now, if nothing else, if all I've done
is to undermine the average
American's faith in government,
that will pay dividends
for the Republican Party
far into the future.
Well, what about me? Us?
Frannie, if you decided
that you needed to move on and
find someone less
I don't know, challenging
to live your life with, I
would completely understand.
- (FRAN SIGHS)
- Hell, at this point,
I might even recommend it. (SCOFFS)
Well, the suitors
aren't exactly lining up.
(CHUCKLES SOFTLY)
I'll wait.
We Liddys don't break.
- (CHUCKLES)
- That's my girl.
("I'LL BE YOUR MIRROR" BY THE
VELVET UNDERGROUND & NICO PLAYING) ♪
It is standing room only,
we are completely sold out.
DEAN: The whole tour is.
You know, uh, 80 million people
watched my testimony on TV.
It was honestly riveting, every moment.
- John.
- Well Yeah? Oh, thanks.
MARINA: I loved your book.
Would you mind terribly? (CHUCKLES)
Of course not. What's your name?
- Uh, Marina.
- Hmm. Hi, Marina.
I I hear they're doing a miniseries.
Do you know who's gonna be playing you?
Are you recording this conversation?
No. (LAUGHS)
Uh, we're talking to Martin Sheen.
PROVOST: So let's give a
big Brown University welcome
to John Dean!
- (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING)
- (MOUTHS) That's me.
I'll be your mirror ♪
Reflect what you are ♪
In case you don't
know I'll be the wind ♪
The rain and the sunset ♪
The light on your door ♪
Hey, Freedman. Here's
your fucking kosher meal.
There he is.
The man's handling my appeal for me.
I find it hard ♪
(INMATES APPLAUD)
But if you don't ♪
(INMATES CHEER, APPLAUD)
I'll be your mirror ♪
I'll be your mirror ♪
(SONG CONCLUDES) ♪
(SINGING IN GERMAN) ♪
("O DEUTSCHLAND
HOCH IN EHREN" PLAYS) ♪
(SONG CONCLUDES) ♪
(LAUNDRY MACHINES WHIRRING)
(SPEAKING SPANISH)
¿Bueno?
(SPEAKS SPANISH)
(BOTH CONVERSING IN SPANISH)
¿De verdad?
Flying back to California.
He forgot to take you, Watergate!
("MACARTHUR PARK" BY
DONNA SUMMER PLAYING) ♪
Spring was never
waiting for us, dear ♪
It ran one step ahead as
we followed in the dance ♪
MacArthur's Park is
melting in the dark ♪
- All the sweet green icing flowing down ♪
-
- Someone left the cake out in the rain ♪
-
- I don't think that I can take it ♪
-
- 'Cause it took so long to bake it ♪
-
- And I'll never have that recipe again ♪
-
- Oh, no! ♪
-
I recall the yellow cotton dress ♪
Foaming like a wave ♪
On the ground beneath your knees ♪
The birds, like tender
babies in your hands ♪
And the old men playing
Chinese checkers by the trees ♪
MacArthur's Park is
melting in the dark ♪
All the sweet green
icing flowing down ♪
Someone left the
cake out in the rain ♪
I don't think that I can take it ♪
'Cause it took so long to bake it ♪
And I'll never have
that recipe again ♪
Oh, no! ♪
MacArthur's Park is
melting in the dark ♪
All the sweet green
icing flowing down ♪
Someone left the
cake out in the rain ♪
I don't think that I can take it ♪
'Cause it took so long to bake it ♪