Nixon Page #3

NIXON:

(incredulous)

Howard Hunt is working for the White

House? No sh*t! This is goddamn

Disneyland! Since when?

EHRLICHMAN:

Chappaquiddick. You wanted some dirt

on Kennedy. Colson brought him in.

DEAN:

You know Hunt, sir?

NIXON:

(perturbed)

On the list of horribles, I know what

he is. And I know what he tracks back

to.

(then)

You say he was involved in the

Plumbers?

HALDEMAN:

Definitely. Colson had him trying to

break into Bremer's apartment after

Bremer shot Wallace, to plant McGovern

campaign literature.

NIXON:

(lofty)

I had nothing to do with that. Was he

... in the Ellsberg thing?

HALDEMAN:

Yes, you approved it, sir.

NIXON:

I did?

HALDEMAN:

It was right after the Pentagon Papers

broke. They went in to get his

psychiatric records.

NIXON:

F***ing hell.

HALDEMAN:

We were working on China.

Nixon has a seat, shaken. He stares right at us, as we:

SHARP CUT BACK TO:

INT. THE WHITE HOUSE - OVAL OFFICE - DAY (1971)

The PRESIDENT'S MEN are gathered in somber silence, sharing

front page copies of the New York Times. SUBTITLE READS:

"JUNE 1971 - A YEAR EARLIER"

INSERT HEADLINE:
"Secret Pentagon Study Details Descent

into Vietnam"; "Pentagon Papers Expose Government Lies."

The technique we've established of an AUDIO MONTAGE of

REPORTER'S VOICES continues over the scene.

REPORTERS (V.O.)

The New York Times began publishing

today the first in a series of forty

seven volumes of top secret Pentagon

Papers relating to the war in Vietnam.

The papers reveal a systematic pattern

of government lies about American

involvement in the war ...

Nixon throws down the paper in disgust and attempts to feed

his Irish setter, KING TIMAHOE, a biscuit, as HENRY

KISSINGER paces the room, the most upset of all.

KISSINGER:

Mr. President, we are in a

revolutionary situation. We are under

siege -- Black Panthers, Weathermen;

The State Department under Rogers is

leaking like a sieve. And now this

insignificant little sh*t Ellsberg

publishing all the diplomatic secrets

of this country will destroy our

ability to conduct foreign policy.

NIXON:

(feeding the dog)

Here, Tim ... Tim. I'm as frustrated

as you, Henry, but don't you think

this one's a Democrat problem. They

started the war; it makes them look

bad.

Kissinger lowers his voice for effect, pounds the desk.

KISSINGER:

Mr. President, how we can look the

Soviets or the Chinese in the eye now

and have any credibility when any

traitor can leak! Even the

Vietnamese, tawdry little shits that

they are, will never -- never -- agree

to secret negotiations with us. This

makes you look like a weakling, Mr.

President.

HALDEMAN:

He's right about one thing, sir. I

spoke with Lyndon. This Pentagon

Papers business has knocked the sh*t

out of him. Complete collapse,

massive depression. He feels the

country is lost, that you as President

can't govern anymore.

NIXON:

(irritated)

Goddamn!

How long have we had this f***ing

dog?! Two years, he still doesn't

come! We need a dog that looks happy

when the press is around.

EHRLICHMAN:

Well, he's photogenic. Let's try dog

bones?

KISSINGER:

(end of his patience)

Mr. President, the Vietnamese, the

Russians ...

Nixon finally throws the biscuit at the dog, glares at

Kissinger.

NIXON:

(to Ehrlichman)

F*** it! He doesn't like me, John!

(to Kissinger)

It's your fault, Henry.

KISSINGER:

I beg your pardon --

NIXON:

It's your people who are leaking to

the Times. Wasn't this Ellsberg a

student of yours at Harvard? He was

your idea; why are you suddenly

running for cover?

KISSINGER:

He was, he was. We taught a class

together at Harvard. But you know

these back-stabbing Ivy League

intellectuals, they can't ...

NIXON:

(cold)

No, Henry. I don't.

KISSINGER:

He's turned into a drug fiend, he shot

people from helicopters in Vietnam, he

has sexual relations with his wife in

front of their children. He sees a

shrink in L.A. He's all f***ed up.

Now he's trying to be a hero to the

liberals ... If he gets away with it,

everybody will follow his lead. He

must be stopped at all costs.

COLSON:

Sir, if I might?

NIXON:

Go, Chuck.

COLSON:

For three years now I've watched

people in this government promote

themselves, ignoring your orders,

embarrassing your administration. It

makes me sick! We've played by the

rules and it doesn't work!

MITCHELL:

(to Nixon)

We can prosecute the New York Times,

go for an injunction ...

NIXON:

... but it's not, bottom-line, gonna

change a goddamn thing, John. The

question is:
How do we screw Ellsberg

so bad it puts the fear of God into

all leakers?

COLSON:

Can we link Ellsberg to the Russians?

NIXON:

Good, I like that. The other issue

is:
How the hell do we plug these

leaks once and for all? Who the

hell's talking to the press?

(he looks directly at Henry)

Henry, for two goddamn years you've

put wiretaps on your own people.

KISSINGER:

To protect you, Mr. President.

COLSON:

(interjects)

To protect yourself is more like it.

The pot calling the kettle ...

Kissinger throws Colson a vicious look, while Nixon ignores

it.

KISSINGER:

(aside)

Who are you talking to like this, you

insignificant sh*t ...

NIXON:

... and what do we get for it? Gobs

and gobs of bullshit, gossip, nothing!

Someone is leaking.

We've got to stop the leaks, Henry, at

any cost, do you hear me? Then we can

go for the big play -- China, Russia.

COLSON:

Mr. President, we can do this

ourselves. The CIA and the FBI aren't

doing the job. But we can create our

own intelligence unit -- right here,

inside the White House.

A slow move in on Nixon as he thinks about it.

NIXON:

Well, why not?

HALDEMAN:

Our own intelligence capability -- to

fix the leaks?

COLSON:

Yeah, like the Plumbers.

Nixon smiles.

NIXON:

I like it. I like the idea.

EHRLICHMAN:

Is it legal?

(a beat)

I mean has anyone ever done it before?

NIXON:

Sure. Lyndon, JFK, FDR -- I mean,

Truman cut the sh*t out of my

investigation of Hiss back in '48.

MITCHELL:

It was illegal, what he did.

NIXON:

You know, this kinda thing, you gotta

be brutal. A leak happens, the whole

damn place should be fired. Really.

You do it like the Germans in World

War II. If they went through these

towns and a sniper hit one of them,

they'd line the whole goddamned town

up and say:
"Until you talk you're all

getting shot." I really think that's

what has to be done. I don't think

you can be Mr. Nice-guy anymore ...

COLSON:

Just whisper the word to me, sir, and

I'll shoot Ellsberg myself.

EHRLICHMAN:

We're not the Germans, sir ...

NIXON:

Ellsberg's not the issue. The

Pentagon Papers aren't the issue.

(almost to himself)

It's the lie.

A pause. Everyone in the room chews on this for a moment.

Mitchell, the oldest in the group, smokes on his pipe,

stone-faced.

MITCHELL:

The lie?

NIXON:

You remember, John, in '48 -- no one

believed Alger Hiss was a communist.

Except me. They loved Hiss just like

they loved this Ellsberg character.

East Coast, Ivy League. He was their

kind. I was dirt to them. Nothing.

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