Reagan Page #13

FRANK:

Iran. The Contras. You lied to me!

DON:

I kept you from knowing something

you didn’t want to know.

FRANK:

You’ve been dealing with countries

who hate us! Why do they even have

to take the hostages?

POINDEXTER:

We can’t just give weapons to our

enemies.

FRANK:

Right, we trade them.

CASPAR:

Business 101, isn’t it?

77.

OLIVER:

I’d like to point out real fast;

the drugs have only been part of

this for a little bit.

Everyone looks at Oliver: ‘Why?!’ After a beat:

FRANK:

I have to tell the President.

POINDEXTER:

Reagan is at the center of it.

Frank flashes on Reagan signing an ‘autograph’ for

Poindexter.

FRANK:

He has no idea what’s going on!

Goddamn it, and that’s my fault. I’m

the distraction. That’s why I’m doing

this; to keep him in the dark.

CASPAR:

You wanted to be in politics.

FRANK:

This isn’t politics!

DON:

Have a drink, Frank. Sit with us.

There’s only so much time left on

this presidency. You should start

thinking about what’s next.

He starts pouring scotch. A GLASS is handed to Frank. The

room waits to see what he’s going to do.

FRANK:

I can’t be a part of this.

DON:

You’re as much a part of this as

anyone else. Sometimes necessity

extends beyond the law. We have a

foreign policy and we have a

business to run. It was determined

that the less the president knows,

the better. We have to protect his

legacy. We have to protect him.

Frank looks at his drink; a symbol of complicity. He slowly

pours it on the table. Don shakes his head. Oliver starts

grabbing PAPERS that are now soaked in alcohol.

78.

OLIVER:

A**hole! These are important!

Frank calmly sets the empty glass on the table and walks out.

POINDEXTER:

(to Don)

Is he going to be a problem?

DON:

He knows I’m right.

INT. OUTSIDE DON’S OFFICE - LATER

Frank looks over a script of a speech. He reads Reagan’s

acting notes in the margins: ‘SELL IT,’ ‘LOOK UP’, ‘COUGH

TWICE.’ Frank sets down the pages. What has he done?

INT. OLIVER NORTH’S OFFICE - LATER

At her desk, Fawn sorts through a stack of papers, including

those soaked by scotch. One of them is a list of ACCOUNT

NUMBERS. The lines are smudged.

FAWN:

Oh what the crap...?

She studies the illegible final digits. Is that 368 or 386?

She writes the former. Scratches it out. Writes the latter.

INT. CREDIT SUISSE BANC - THE NEXT MORNING

THIERRY BLOSSER (43, well dressed, angular) steps to the next

available TELLER with an ILLY in his right hand and a SWISS

NEWSPAPER tucked under his left arm. In subtitled German:

TELLER:

Good morning. How can I help you?

THIERRY BLOSSER:

I need to write a cashier’s check,

but am not sure if I have the

available funds.

TELLER:

Let me get your balance for you.

She prints out Mr. Blosser’s balance and hands it to him. He

looks at it and his coffee falls out of his hands.

ANGLE ON:
‘BALANCE - $17,757,023 CHF.’

79.

INT. WHITE HOUSE PRESS ROOM - LATER THAT DAY

White House Press Secretary LARRY SPEAKES (48, professionally

evasive) deftly fields questions from REPORTERS.

REPORTER #1

How did the money reach the Swiss

Account?

LARRY SPEAKES:

I couldn’t tell you, because no one

in the administration sent it.

Frank nauseously leans against the wall, waiting for the

question that Speakes can’t dodge.

REPORTER #2

There was a deposit made in the

amount of ten million dollars from

the US Treasury.

LARRY SPEAKES:

Is that a question?

REPORTER #2

The federal government clearly made

the deposit.

LARRY SPEAKES:

And the federal government is a

massive bureaucracy that the

President has shrunk and aims to

continue to shrink.

(calling on someone)

Yes?

REPORTER #3

Do you have any comments on the

President’s mental health?

It’s like the wind is knocked out of Frank. He fixates on the

Reporter:
SALLY CAHILL (late 20s, brunette pony-tailed hair).

LARRY SPEAKES:

His mental health? Who are you?

SALLY CAHILL:

Sally Cahill, Dover Post. We have a

source that says the President has

been experiencing memory loss due

to advanced age.

Frank flashes on his conversation with Dick at the party.

80.

FRANK:

‘Always start running first.’ Son

of a b*tch...

Only one person hears him: ADAL RIFAI (30s, Lebanese,

premature widow’s peak). Frank doesn’t notice.

LARRY SPEAKES:

With sources like that, Miss

Cahill, I have a feeling you’ll be

staying at the Dover Post.

SALLY CAHILL:

So you have no comment?

LARRY SPEAKES:

Not on nonsense.

Enraged, Frank storms out the back door. Adal leans to the

Lucas, the intern.

ADAL:

Who was that who just walked out?

LUCAS:

Oh, that’s Mr. Capra.

INT. DON’S OFFICE - MINUTES LATER

Don is signing documents as Frank bursts in, seething.

FRANK:

I know what you did.

DON:

I’ve done a lot of things. Don’t know

if any of them justify that tone.

FRANK:

You’re trying to get rid of me.

You, sir, have bragged about your

timing. But I’m not a stock you can

dump when the price goes down.

DON:

You sure about that?

FRANK:

Yeah, I am. Read it in the Dover

Post. I hear they have great sources.

Don eyes his threatening protege.

81.

DON:

Frank, maybe it’s time we discussed

a transfer of your duties.

FRANK:

I don’t think so. You talk to me

about faith and trust? I have the

faith and trust of the President of

the United States! You don’t say

when I’m done; he does! He needs me!

DON:

If you believe that, you haven’t

learned a thing.

FRANK:

I’ve learned plenty, Don!

He rumbles out. Don’s confidence trembles slightly.

EXT. WHITE HOUSE - DAY

Frank exits the building, doing his best to breathe. Adal was

lying in wait for him.

ADAL:

Mr. Capra! Mr. Capra!

Frank stops. His day is getting even worse.

FRANK:

It’s Corden. What do you want?

ADAL:

Oh, I’m sorry. I was told-

FRANK:

Who are you?

ADAL:

Adal Rifai. Al-Shiraa. Beirut. May

I ask you a question?

FRANK:

I can’t answer anything.

Frank tries to walk away. Adal walks with him.

ADAL:

Sir, I couldn’t help but notice

your reaction to the claim-

82.

FRANK:

A ridiculous claim. I was reacting to

hearing something ridiculous.

ADAL:

We received the same information. A

gentleman claiming to be from the

White House told our bureau that

President Reagan was unwell.

Frank shakes his head at Don’s thoroughness.

FRANK:

Mr. Rifai, this gentleman to whom

you spoke is full of sh*t. He’s

feeding you a fake story to cover

up the real one.

ADAL:

Why don’t you tell me the real one?

FRANK:

...What’s Al-Shirra?

ADAL:

A small newspaper in Lebanon. Your

country thinks we are in the pocket

of our government. There’s an

English saying about ‘pots’ and

‘kettles’. If there is truth to be

told, Mr. Corden, I can tell it.

Frank holds. He can almost hear Dick: Start. Running. First.

FRANK:

Listen closely, Mr. Rifai: you did

not hear this from me.

INT. ABC NEWS BROADCAST - NOVEMBER 3, 1986

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