We had a little down time yesterday afternoon......so we watched a movie. Yes....we are cruising the Rhine River and have enjoyed one experience after another.....but a little down time on day five was welcome.
Scrolling through the listings on our state room TV we found “Mark Felt” starring Liam Neeson. Frankly I will watch anything with Liam Neeson so it was an easy choice. This movie could have been a companion piece to “All The President’s Men”.......and it was fascinating. The Watergate scandal from another perspective....that of Mark Felt, the number two man at the FBI when the break-in took place. J. Edgar Hoover had just died at the beginning of the film, Mark Felt expected to move into his position....but Nixon appointed one of his men instead. Someone with no law enforcement experience. As Felt greets the new head of the FBI he says “Mr. Gray, the FBI is the most respected institution in the world. It is one of the two cockpits that fly America and it is what it is because no one from the outside ever got inside. What goes on in here and what it means to the Country...that’s all that I care about.”
And as leads began to develop Nixon tried to stop the investigation in its tracks. He tried to limit the FBI’s efforts and stop their investigation. At which point Mark Felt, with the FBI for 30 years and a consummate professional, responded strongly and in no uncertain terms.
The scene is a telephone call from John Dean to Mark Felt. In response to John Dean’s order/request that they shut down the investigations and stop the leaks Felt responds: “The White House has no authority over the FBI....at all. I’m afraid the White House has nothing to suggest to the FBI.”
And the conversation is over......
Sound familiar? Where is Deep Throat when we need him......
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