The Trial of the Chicago 7 Page #3

JOHN MITCHELL is standing behind his desk, lighting a

cigarette.

MITCHELL:

As a matter of courtesy and

tradition, when we elect a new

president, the outgoing cabinet

members resign to spare the new

president the unpleasantness of

firing them. You know when

President Nixon received Ramsey

Clark’s formal letter of

resignation?

SCHULTZ:

No, sir.

MITCHELL:

About an hour before I was

confirmed. That was to embarrass

me. I don’t know, I think it was

more embarrassing for Ramsey Clark.

I’m John Mitchell.

FORAN:

Thomas Foran, Mr. Attorney General,

and this is Richard Schultz.

MITCHELL:

Richard, Chicago was more f***ed up

than any ten things I’ve ever seen

in my life.

SCHULTZ:

Sir?

HOWARD:

The convention. The riots.

SCHULTZ:

Yes sir.

15.

MITCHELL:

Johnny Walker okay with everybody?

FORAN:

Thank you.

MITCHELL:

Richard?

SCHULTZ:

Nothing for me, thank you.

MITCHELL:

We don’t know how Humphrey’s people

could’ve been that stupid--allow

their guy to get nominated under

armed guard.

(to SCHULTZ)

You think that’s what lost him the

election?

SCHULTZ:

Sir?

MITCHELL:

Son, are you nervous?

SCHULTZ:

No sir.

MITCHELL:

Why the f*** not?

(beat)

I’m kidding. Don’t believe

everything you’ve heard about me.

Ramsey Clark gives me the finger on

the way out the door. I’m asking if

you think Chicago is why Humphrey

lost the election.

SCHULTZ:

No sir, I think the Republicans ran

a better candidate.

MITCHELL:

That’s for damn sure.

HOWARD:

And Daley didn’t help his party

either but Humphrey’s people and

Daley didn’t break the law so

that’s someone else’s table.

16.

SCHULTZ:

Well as a matter of fact, sir, we

don’t believe any federal laws were

broken last summer. Mr. Foran had

our office run a thorough

investigation. Plenty of

trespassing, destruction of public

property, lewd behavior I suppose,

but-

MITCHELL starts laughing. So does HOWARD. So SCHULTZ stops

talking for a brief moment before-

SCHULTZ (CONT'D)

...nothing rising to the level of-

MITCHELL:

Do you think you and your boss are

in the Attorney General’s office

because I want you to seek an

indictment for violating a federal

trespassing law?

SCHULTZ:

Sir, our office wasn’t aware the

Justice Department wanted to seek

any indictments at all.

MITCHELL:

We do.

SCHULTZ:

Ramsey Clark was dead set against

bringing federal-

MITCHELL:

Ramsey Clark doesn’t run the

Justice Department anymore, did you

hear about that? And Mr. Johnson’s

back home in Texas.

SCHULTZ:

Of course, sir.

MITCHELL:

One hour before my confirmation

hearing gaveled, that’s when he

resigned. What a prick.

SCHULTZ:

It was unprofessional, sir.

17.

MITCHELL:

Unprofessional, it was unpatriotic.

And I’ll tell you what else--it was

impolite. There’s such a thing as

manners. I want to bring back

manners, how ‘bout that. The

America I grew up in. Will you

help me, Mr. Schultz? ‘Cause I

asked Mr. Foran who was the best

prosecutor in his office and he

said you.

SCHULTZ:

Thank you.

HOWARD tosses SCHULTZ a file-

HOWARD:

Section 2101 of Title 18.

MITCHELL:

That’s the federal law that was

broken.

SCHULTZ:

That’s the Rap Brown law.

HOWARD:

Conspiracy to Cross State Lines in

Order to Incite Violence. It comes

with a ten-year maximum and we want

all ten.

SCHULTZ:

For whom, sir?

HOWARD tosses SCHULTZ another file-

HOWARD:

The all-star team.

SCHULTZ looks at the top page in the file-

SCHULTZ:

Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, Tom

Hayden, Rennie Davis, Dave

Dellinger, Lee Weiner, John

Froines...and Bobby Seale?

MITCHELL:

I call them the schoolboys, and

when I do, everyone here knows who

I’m talking about. Petulant and

dangerous.

(MORE)

18.

MITCHELL (CONT'D)

And we’ve watched for a decade

while these rebels without a job

who’ve never bothered to get their

hands dirty fighting the enemy tell

us how to prosecute a war. The

decade’s over, the grown-ups are

back and I deem these shitty little

fairies to be a threat to national

security so they’re gonna spend

their 30’s in a federal facility.

Real time.

FORAN:

You’re lead prosecutor, Richard.

You understand why I couldn’t tell

you until we got here.

SCHULTZ:

Sure. Yes sir.

There’s an awkward silence...

HOWARD:

Richard, you’re being given the

ball, are you ready to do this?

SCHULTZ:

You pay me for my opinion.

MITCHELL:

What?

SCHULTZ:

I said, sir, you pay me for my

opinion?

MITCHELL:

Where did you learn that, in class?

I pay you to win.

SCHULTZ:

I’m not sure we can get a good

indictment on conspiracy.

MITCHELL:

Why not?

SCHULTZ:

For one thing, some of these people

had never met each other.

MITCHELL:

Telephones.

19.

SCHULTZ:

Mr. Attorney General, the Rap Brown

law was created by southern whites

in Congress to limit the free

speech of black activists.

(beat)

Civil Rights activists who were

coming in from the-

MITCHELL:

I know why it was--why the f*** is

he teaching--It doesn’t matter to

why the law was passed, it matters

what it can do.

SCHULTZ:

We’re not sure what it can do

because no one’s ever been charged

with it.

FORAN:

That makes it exciting, it’s virgin

land. Undeveloped real estate.

MITCHELL:

It’s a law and they broke it.

SCHULTZ:

Of course.

MITCHELL:

Is there a problem?

SCHULTZ:

No sir.

MITCHELL:

Say what you want to say since

apparently I’m paying you for your

wisdom. Gimme my money’s worth.

SCHULTZ:

There will be people who’ll see

this as the Justice Department

restraining free speech and there

will people who’ll see these men as

martyrs.

MITCHELL:

Are any of those people in this

room?

20.

SCHULTZ:

(beat)

No sir.

MITCHELL:

You’re 33 and you’re about to be

named lead prosecutor in the most

important trial in your lifetime

after having been hand-picked by

the Attorney General, I’m about to

do it right now. But before I do,

let me ask you, how do you see

them?

SCHULTZ:

(beat)

Personally or in terms of-

MITCHELL:

Personally.

SCHULTZ:

I see them as vulgar, anti-

establishment, anti-social and

unpragmatic, but none of those

things are indictable.

MITCHELL:

Then imagine how impressed I’ll be

when you get an indictment.

SCHULTZ:

And there’s the bigger question.

MITCHELL:

Which is?

SCHULTZ:

Who started the riot? Was it the

protestors or was it the police?

MITCHELL:

The police don’t start riots.

SCHULTZ:

They’ll have witnesses who’ll say

they started this one.

MITCHELL:

And you’ll dismantle them. And

you’ll win. Because, Mr. Schultz,

that’s what’s expected of you.

21.

SCHULTZ:

(beat)

Yes sir.

38 INT. MITCHELL’S OUTER-OFFICE -DAY 38

As SCHULTZ and FORAN step out and the door closes behind

them.

FORAN:

(quietly)

You didn’t show a lot of gratitude

in there.

SCHULTZ:

(quietly)

On top of everything else, we’re

giving them exactly what they want-

a stage and an audience.

FORAN:

You really think it’s going to be a

big audience?

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