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Speaker 1: Ridiculous Crime is a production of iHeartRadio.

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Speaker 2: Ah.

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Speaker 3: No, it's so good for you to have.

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Speaker 2: You been since the last time you saw.

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Speaker 3: Me getting better? You know, I think this it's still

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Speaker 3: so ridiculous. It's still summertime. Okay, go ahead, but I

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Speaker 3: think that the summer of Dark Elizabeth may be ending.

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Speaker 4: What.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, and I'm not feeling as mad as I have.

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Speaker 2: Oh, that's nice.

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Speaker 3: Joy has entered.

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Speaker 2: I'm really happy for me. It's joy has entered your life.

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Speaker 2: What happened?

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Speaker 3: Just being joyous?

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Speaker 2: Just being joyful.

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Speaker 3: I made the personal decision to not be pissed off.

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Speaker 2: Congratulations. I'm so happy for us, you so much.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm really happy for you.

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Speaker 2: Do you know what's ridiculous? I do?

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Speaker 3: What TikTok?

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Speaker 4: Yeah?

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Speaker 2: Are you onto totally the byte dance of the TikTok?

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Speaker 3: What's your favorite TikTok trend?

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Speaker 2: Me not scrolling?

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm not on there. So I tell you. I

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Speaker 3: just hear people complaining about TikTok challenges.

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Speaker 2: And what have you people sent me to. I watched

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Speaker 2: a whole hour long video about what goes on on TikTok,

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Speaker 2: so I didn't have to go on.

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Speaker 3: I'm there's this makeup artist. I think I've talked about

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Speaker 3: it before, Aaron Parsons that I follow on Instagram. Sure,

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Speaker 3: and she has longer videos on TikTok that I really

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Speaker 3: really want to watch, but not enough to get on TikTok. Yeah. Uh, anyway, TikTok.

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Speaker 3: One of the kind of fads that's been going down

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Speaker 3: on there is that people are buying kit kats, you know,

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Speaker 3: a k give me a break, give me a break.

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Speaker 2: Into a KitKat exactly.

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Speaker 3: They've been taking them and dipping them and ketchup. Yeah why,

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Speaker 3: I don't know. So much of this stuff is just why.

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Speaker 3: But anyway, so like never one to miss an opportunity. Yeah,

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Speaker 3: I know, I got you, Hines. It was like, we

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Speaker 3: haven't been making a terrible product for the last I

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Speaker 3: don't know five minutes. So hey, kit cat, you want

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Speaker 3: in on this? And so they they drew. I think

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Speaker 3: they went to AI and like had an AI.

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Speaker 2: Why actually waste time on.

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Speaker 3: This picture of it. It's called kit Catchup and it's

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Speaker 3: a ketchup flavored kit Cat's.

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Speaker 2: Not just like a dip for your your kit cat.

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Speaker 3: No, it's like so they had picture of it. It

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Speaker 3: hasn't really been released I think it's like a test balloon, Like, hey,

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Speaker 3: you guys, would you be into this? And you know

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Speaker 3: people would.

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Speaker 5: Buy so uh that would apparently the official Craft Dinner account,

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Speaker 5: uh commented in response to this, y'all want to add

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Speaker 5: cheese to the mix.

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Speaker 3: It's like all of them need to be hosed down

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Speaker 3: and swatted with the paper. Look, they're getting me back

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Speaker 3: to dark quick and like, I don't so let's just

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Speaker 3: let's just stop it. Gez No, No, that's ridiculous.

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Speaker 2: No one else is ridiculous, Elizabeth. All Right, I got

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Speaker 2: a special one for you. FBI agents, Yeah, who once

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Speaker 2: played dress up as chiks to catch mobsters, but instead

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Speaker 2: they caught senators and congressmen doing crimes.

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Speaker 3: Oh I love this.

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Speaker 4: Yeah right, this.

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Speaker 2: Ridiculous Crime A podcast about absurd and outrageous capers, heists,

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Speaker 2: and cons. It's always ninety nine murder free and ridiculous.

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Speaker 2: That's the truth, Elizabeth. Yeah, today, I got a special

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Speaker 2: one for you. You know, I want to tell you

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Speaker 2: the story of an undercover operation that changed how the

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Speaker 2: FBI does its FBI business. Sibbons, Yes, exactly. We've already

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Speaker 2: discussed what little law there is to constrain undercover officers.

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Speaker 3: Yeh, I covered that shocking right.

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Speaker 2: Well. This story is what caused the FBI to come

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Speaker 2: up with some rules of their own for their undercover

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Speaker 2: operations after the FBI caught a bunch of congressmen doing crimes. Elizabeth,

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Speaker 2: you ever heard of ab scam?

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Speaker 3: Vague sounds vaguely familiar.

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Speaker 2: Same, Yeah, it's like right on the edge of like

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Speaker 2: cultural memory. I remember my father referencing it. I don't

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Speaker 2: know what it was. And I learned something today as well.

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Speaker 2: It was like ab fab that I know about. Yeah, yes, Patty,

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Speaker 2: and yes, Patty and Adina definitely know about Patsy what

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Speaker 2: I said, Patty, Yeah, I know all this Patty show

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Speaker 2: and Edward I love them. So before we dig into

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Speaker 2: the FBI's fun with costumes, I need to provide a

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Speaker 2: little context the nineteen seventies.

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Speaker 3: Oh you love the song.

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Speaker 2: I love the seventies not only is it bad fashion

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Speaker 2: and great music. We often cover stories from this decade

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Speaker 2: because there's a lot of crime, just a ton of crime,

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Speaker 2: mostly because it was this hinge in history, right, Like

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Speaker 2: it's a point in time when the world was starting

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Speaker 2: to use like new things like jet planes and the

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Speaker 2: computer and computers and the internet, right, but also that

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Speaker 2: was you know, intended to make the world much smaller,

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Speaker 2: but mostly it made it easier to find criminals. So

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Speaker 2: this is right at the point where we're like, oh,

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Speaker 2: criminals realize they're no longer able to just cross state

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Speaker 2: lines or whatever they've been doing for most of the

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Speaker 2: twentieth century. Right, this is the end of that era,

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Speaker 2: and this is like, well, this is the story of

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Speaker 2: the folks who are doing the busting, right, Like, first

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Speaker 2: we need to discuss the idea and the image of

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Speaker 2: that they tried to borrow from the chic. The seventies

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Speaker 2: is when the sheic becomes popular in American culture.

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Speaker 3: Right, like the not c chi see chic.

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Speaker 2: But like, yeah, not like the chic like Miles Rogers.

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Speaker 3: Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah.

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Speaker 2: No, it doesn't like oo, No chic has in like

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Speaker 2: our shake. I guess there's probably more of a pronounce.

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Speaker 3: Yeah.

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Speaker 2: So it all started with the rise of OPEK. Right

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Speaker 2: in nineteen seventy three, OPEC they announced this oil and bargo,

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Speaker 2: this action sense oil prices skyrocketing. We've seen the pictures

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Speaker 2: in the footage of the lines from gas stations stretching

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Speaker 2: around the block, right, It pretty much brings Western countries

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Speaker 2: to a near standstill when they can't get their oil.

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Speaker 2: This is also when Americans stopped driving gas guzzler cars.

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Speaker 2: They switch over to hondas and toyotas right now. This

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Speaker 2: is also when the image of the Sheiks starts to

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Speaker 2: pop up in American pop culture as this kind of like, oh,

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Speaker 2: this is who's getting all the money? Kind of yeah,

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Speaker 2: exactly right. So this do you remember the movie Cannonball Run?

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Speaker 3: I do?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, you do? Okay, So my boy hal need them,

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Speaker 2: director of Smoking in the Bandit, which Hitchcock called his

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Speaker 2: favorite film. Is what I swear to God Halfred Hitchcock

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Speaker 2: look it up. He said this Smoking the Bandit was

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Speaker 2: his favorite film. It was the end of his life.

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Speaker 2: So who knows what was going on, but anyway he consciousness,

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Speaker 2: Yeah exactly. He's out a letter that I need him,

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Speaker 2: is saying this anyway, how need him? He's back in

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Speaker 2: the director's chair for Cannonball Run. Now, do you you

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Speaker 2: remember the movie I did Burt Reynolds, JJ McClure, Dom

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Speaker 2: Delawai Tom Delawis as Victor prinsy aka who Captain Chaos.

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Speaker 2: You heard the costume that was like his alter ego

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Speaker 2: is like his first sona but no fur.

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Speaker 3: I always liked when they would show like the outtakes

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Speaker 3: and they're just cracking themselves up, and I'm like, it's

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Speaker 3: not that.

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Speaker 2: Funny the whole of the movie. Oh my god, it's

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Speaker 2: such a Hollywood. We got drunk and went off to

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Speaker 2: a set and like, yeah, yeahmpletely so. But also, you know,

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Speaker 2: speaking of drunk, there was Dean Martin in this movie,

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Speaker 2: Sammy Davis Junior. They were dressed as priests. Remember, right,

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Speaker 2: I'm trying to get my buddy Derek to do this

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Speaker 2: costume for Halloween. Like the two of us get some

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Speaker 2: priest shirts and.

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Speaker 3: We go do it.

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Speaker 2: I know, right, it's right slam dunk. Also Jackie Chan

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Speaker 2: the guy and the guy who played Jaws in the

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Speaker 2: Bonds movies their teammates. Anyway, do you remember the shake

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Speaker 2: je Jamie Fame, he plays Abdul ben Falafel.

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Speaker 3: Oh God, stuff from the eighties, like when you look back,

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Speaker 3: like there have been times when I'll think, oh, I

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Speaker 3: loved that movie, and then I watched.

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Speaker 2: You watch it and I'm just like, oh, I don't

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Speaker 2: remember all this.

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Speaker 3: First of all, super offensive. Second of all, there are

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Speaker 3: a lot of movies where you're like, kids.

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Speaker 2: Watched oh most of them, even the ones where I'm like,

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Speaker 2: I watched this as a kid, Like what, who let

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Speaker 2: me watch this? Ex So, Jamie Farr is the only

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Speaker 2: character who's in all three Cannonball movies this shake abdul

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Speaker 2: ben Falafel, and he plays them obviously as a wild

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Speaker 2: stereotype of an Arab and I looked it up. Also,

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Speaker 2: I should note, do you remember his father was Ricardo Montabon.

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Speaker 2: He was in Cannonball Run two aka mister Rourke from Fantasy.

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Speaker 3: Oh yeah, yeah, rich Corinthian love.

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Speaker 2: Yes, exactly, real commitment to Arab stereotypes here Ricardo montaban

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Speaker 2: and Jamie Farr. But it should be noted Jamie Farr

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Speaker 2: is of I looked it up, needs descent his family.

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Speaker 2: They are Antioch Orthodox Christians, so it's not really you know,

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Speaker 2: entirely his culture to make fun of. But he is

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Speaker 2: of the region, you know. So anyway, the Canniball Run movies,

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Speaker 2: Janie far As shake abdol ben Faloffel, he drives this

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Speaker 2: tricked out rolls Royce silver Shadow. That's to like make

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Speaker 2: fun of the fact of like the implausibility, that rageousness

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Speaker 2: of Arab wealthy you're gonna try to raise, and of

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Speaker 2: Rolls Royce. That's the whole joke, right, which speaks to

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Speaker 2: what was going down in the seventies. Arabs are suddenly everywhere. Right,

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Speaker 2: They're in New York, They're in London. They have money,

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Speaker 2: They have more money than the queen right in this

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Speaker 2: desert shake the irresponsible Saudi prince. They become this image

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Speaker 2: of the excessive, outsized Arab oil wealth.

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Speaker 4: Right.

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Speaker 2: But the shak's also become an iconic image of the

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Speaker 2: seventies era with just the look. It's just such an

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Speaker 2: iconic look. Soddenly got this, these long flowing white robes,

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Speaker 2: the clean white draped kefia. The head dress right, the

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Speaker 2: sorry caffa headdress often accessorized with these dark designers sunglasses. Right,

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Speaker 2: they look all clean. Perhaps they have like a statement

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Speaker 2: bird of prey, like a falcon, very.

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Speaker 3: Very much like an eighties kids Halloween come totally.

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Speaker 2: Right, or like there's a also. I mean, this look

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Speaker 2: it gets becomes so iconic people start playing with it.

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Speaker 2: Like you pointed out, it becomes a costume. Frank Zappa

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Speaker 2: very famously on his very first album, the one for

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Speaker 2: Zappa Records that he released in nineteen seventy nine. It

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Speaker 2: was called Shake Your Booty. Oh yeah on the cover

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Speaker 2: of Frank Zappa dressed as a desert shake. The album

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Speaker 2: features the title track, obviously, shake your Booty. That was

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Speaker 2: a play on the song that was a big song

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Speaker 2: of the day, Shake your Booty by Sunshine.

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Speaker 3: Yeah.

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Speaker 2: All right, so this same album, the same Zappa album.

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Speaker 3: They've got shake notes exactly.

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Speaker 2: Do you know Jewish American Princess the Zappa song? Yes, yes,

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Speaker 2: I want to funky little Jews printans. Anyway, so Frank Zappa,

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Speaker 2: he's playing with the Israeli tensions at the time, apparently,

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Speaker 2: I don't know. But another person who also becomes famous

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Speaker 2: playing with the same iconic imagery he played a shake

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Speaker 2: Actually his is a man named Hossain Kostro Ali Vasiri,

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Speaker 2: better known as the Iron Cheek. You're familiar with the

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Speaker 2: professional wrestler the Iron Cheek.

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Speaker 3: I really know much about wrestling, but like you remember

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Speaker 3: characters like that and like pul Kogan and Rowdy Roddy Piper.

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Speaker 2: There you go, classic Rowdy, my big boy. I like

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Speaker 2: him anyway, you remember at the time, right, like in

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Speaker 2: the eighties and he comes from he was in the seventies,

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Speaker 2: but he really comes to dominance in the eighties. And

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Speaker 2: you could like tell that he's like this Cold War

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Speaker 2: proxy war figure because you have the Soviet Union that

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Speaker 2: was his like wrestling partner. He's with this big Soviet

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Speaker 2: Russian and that was to kind of play on the

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Speaker 2: fact that Iran or Rock War was going on at

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Speaker 2: the time, right, So we have this whole thing, and

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Speaker 2: so the Soviets choose Iran, we choose a rock that

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Speaker 2: we being the West. So all this gets played out.

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Speaker 2: And so that's why there's photos of George Bush and

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Speaker 2: Saddam Hussein together in the Reagan years. It's because of this.

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Speaker 2: So the Iron Cheek is capitalizing on.

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Speaker 3: This Iron Chek today like a Twitter he was.

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Speaker 2: He passed away. He passed away recently. He was a

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Speaker 2: huge Twitter presence. Everybody loved him and it really was

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Speaker 2: him apparently doing although like you're a j'r Broni. Now,

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Speaker 2: he was an Iranian born wrestler. Now, if you know anything,

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Speaker 2: it's kind of weird for him to be called the

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Speaker 2: Iron Chic if he's because there's no shakes in Iran. Yeah,

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Speaker 2: it's a Persian culture if you want. Yeah, the Shiks

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Speaker 2: they they're from the Arabian Peninsula, from the Gulf States, right, So,

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Speaker 2: but I guess the Iron Persian just didn't have the

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Speaker 2: same ring, right. But this is the whole point is

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Speaker 2: in the seventies they're like, oh, you got to be

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Speaker 2: a shake well, and it was just.

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Speaker 3: There was this notion that it's just all the same.

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Speaker 2: Yes, there's always that, there's you know, it's just.

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Speaker 3: That whole region. And I think it really.

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Speaker 2: Wasn't until the flattening of that area.

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Speaker 3: Like the First Gulf War, that people were able to

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Speaker 3: start differentiate, differentiating different countries.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, totally, or even understanding like the Souni Shia divide

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Speaker 2: and Islam some of these things they're they're not known

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Speaker 2: at this point, not really, right. So at this point,

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Speaker 2: for purely visual reasons, the Iron Shake. He wears these

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Speaker 2: curved toad shoes from like the Ottomans. He has an

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Speaker 2: ancient Persian style club, he's got the Kafia of the

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Speaker 2: the chk Right, He's just mixing up all the Middle

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Speaker 2: Eastern signified.

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Speaker 3: Yeah.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, because it's basically playing on occidental fears. That's the

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Speaker 2: whole idea, right, So these three shak examples, I give you.

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Speaker 2: None of them are Arab, right, these are this is

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Speaker 2: what people are picturing when they're learning about shakes. These

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Speaker 2: people pretending in the seventies, right, So your average media

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Speaker 2: trained American, this is what they think of a shake

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Speaker 2: in the seventies and eighties. Is these people. Yeah, Frank Zappa,

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Speaker 2: Jamie Farr, and the Iron Shake. So anyway, that Elizabeth

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Speaker 2: brings us to the story of the day abscam. Nice

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Speaker 2: to story almost as big as Watergate was in the

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Speaker 2: nineteen seventies. It's this huge crime and there's you know,

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Speaker 2: it's government figures are involved. The Feds are going after

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Speaker 2: government figures. It's like people are like, oh this again.

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Speaker 2: But after two decades of victories in court thanks to Rico,

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Speaker 2: the Feds have been going after mobsters for a while,

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Speaker 2: all right, and the Fed lawyers there at this point

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Speaker 2: they're finishing up and prisoning the last of the Great

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Speaker 2: Dawns of the Five Families of New York and New Jersey. Yeah,

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Speaker 2: the FBI, they've run a number of stings, surveillance operations,

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Speaker 2: all against the mafia. This is when like Rudy Giuliani,

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Speaker 2: James Comer and Michael Chertoff all make their names as

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Speaker 2: US attorneys. So abscam. It starts out as an FBI

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Speaker 2: sting operation, just another one of these. It was an

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Speaker 2: attempt to ensnare mobsters working with white collar criminals. But eventually,

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Speaker 2: all of a sudden, out of nowhere pops up into

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Speaker 2: the second greatest political scandal of the seventies. It starts with,

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Speaker 2: as I said, FBI agents playing dress up as shakes.

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Speaker 2: In nineteen seventy eight, FBI agent John Good, middle name Francis.

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Speaker 2: So he was John F. Goood, not like Johnny F. Good.

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Speaker 2: Now anyway, if his name was like, middle name was Bernard,

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Speaker 2: I know so much better. Yeah, but his parents had

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Speaker 2: no sense of humor, foresight. Yeah, John F. Good, Johnny F.

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Speaker 2: Good whatever. Anyway, This dude, John F. Good, FBI guy,

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Speaker 2: guy with a big idea. He stationed at the FBI

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Speaker 2: suburban Long Island Field office. Right, he wants to get

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Speaker 2: into this anti mob crackdown energy. So listen, if you

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Speaker 2: want to fight crime, it helps if you have your

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Speaker 2: own what army criminal?

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Speaker 3: Oh yeah, it.

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Speaker 2: Helps because if you have your own criminal, because they

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Speaker 2: know things you don't. They know the language, they know

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Speaker 2: some people. They know the ins and outs. They can

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Speaker 2: tell you things and what things mean that you would

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Speaker 2: never even think the question. Yeah, right, so it helps

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Speaker 2: have a criminal basically, So, this criminal that John F.

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Speaker 2: Good decides he's going to draft for his operation is

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Speaker 2: named Melvin Weinberg. Melvin Weinberg. He is a con artist,

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Speaker 2: a swindler. He's recently been arrested and is looking at

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Speaker 2: a long stretch inside. Yeah, that's why he agrees to

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Speaker 2: become an FBI and foremant He's like, oh, yeah, out

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Speaker 2: of my two choices, I'll take what's in your right hand.

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Speaker 4: Yeah.

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Speaker 2: He ropes in his girlfriend who's also been busted, also

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Speaker 2: run up on charges, Evelyn Knight. So that together they

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Speaker 2: agree to help the FBI help some agents run low

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Speaker 2: priority sting operations, just like I said, catch some white

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Speaker 2: collar criminals. Folks are doing business with the mob in

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Speaker 2: Long Island. Yeah, operations of initial budget was thirty two

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Speaker 2: thousand dollars, not much at all. No, Weinberg, he goes,

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Speaker 2: he takes his money. He creates a fake business, a

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Speaker 2: front company called Abdul Enterprises. The company was purportedly to

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Speaker 2: be this business arm for an Arab shake. The sheik

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Speaker 2: was named Comber Abdul Ramen, and they were that was

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Speaker 2: entirely made up. These are obviously covers for FBI agents.

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Speaker 2: Shake Ramen and there was another one to shake Yasir Habib.

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Speaker 2: So shake Khabib and Shake Ramen. They become the FBI

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Speaker 2: agent's cover stories. They pretend to have one million dollars

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Speaker 2: that they wish to invest in American businesses. Right, so

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Speaker 2: we got some arab oil money. I just want to

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Speaker 2: come over and put in the Yeah. So that whole

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Speaker 2: the idea is that hopefully people see them is like,

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Speaker 2: oh I can con them, I can take them whatever.

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Speaker 2: They're like new Nuvaux Reach.

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Speaker 3: Yeah.

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Speaker 2: So the first bust that they go, they they conduct them.

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Speaker 2: They're working like like Subaru engineering, Elizabeth just smooth. Weinberg,

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Speaker 2: he's able to define this set of stolen paintings in

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Speaker 2: one of the crimes. Right. That ends up that pretty

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00:16:51,480 --> 00:16:53,600
Speaker 2: much takes most of the thirty two thousand dollars budget

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00:16:53,640 --> 00:16:55,480
Speaker 2: to get through these first stainings because he's using it

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Speaker 2: as like buy money and so forth. FBI they recover

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Speaker 2: the stolen artwork. Then Weinberg he gets this big surprise.

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Speaker 2: The insurance company flips him a cool ten thousand for

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Speaker 2: his recovery effort. It's ten larks just for like, you know,

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Speaker 2: being involved. This one gives Weinberg a big idea of

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Speaker 2: his own. He's like, I got big ideas too. He

349
00:17:14,200 --> 00:17:16,960
Speaker 2: can make some big money roping in criminals for the FBI.

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Speaker 2: He happens to know them, so now he'll just start

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Speaker 2: targeting them and hopefully get a little piece on the side,

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Speaker 2: or is he put it, he'll start working as a

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Speaker 2: quote government crook. So he goes back to his handlers

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Speaker 2: and he tells him, look, if you want to go

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Speaker 2: after some real big fish, like some real criminals, then

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Speaker 2: you need to give me some real money. So the

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Speaker 2: FBI is like, well, how much you do you have

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Speaker 2: in mind? He's like he goes like full doctor evil.

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Speaker 2: He's like, I need one million dollars. So the FBI

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Speaker 2: they go, okay, one million dollars and they transfer it

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Speaker 2: to a Chase Manhattan bank account. So now Weinberg's got

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Speaker 2: some real like flash show money, and he's got these

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00:17:50,240 --> 00:17:52,800
Speaker 2: fake FBI shakes to go around and play dress up

364
00:17:52,840 --> 00:17:54,639
Speaker 2: into you know, flash in front of the purpse. So

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00:17:54,640 --> 00:17:56,760
Speaker 2: he's got some flash money. He's got these people who

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Speaker 2: are gonna make people think, oh I can take them.

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Speaker 2: It's great. Right, So they now they go, I like

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Speaker 2: this guy. They put them on the official FBI payroll.

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Speaker 2: This informant, he gets a salary of three grand a

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Speaker 2: month in nineteen seventy. Yes, it's a lot of money.

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Speaker 2: So that's not to mention any bonuses that he earned. No,

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Speaker 2: I don't know if the FBI was covering his expenses,

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Speaker 2: but I do know this. He kept the same attitude

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Speaker 2: as a quote government crook that he brought to his

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00:18:19,920 --> 00:18:22,359
Speaker 2: work as a con man or. As Wineberg put it,

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00:18:22,359 --> 00:18:25,159
Speaker 2: and I quote, I'm a swindler. There's only one difference

377
00:18:25,200 --> 00:18:27,919
Speaker 2: between me and the congressman I met on this case.

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Speaker 2: The public pays them a salary for stealing. So he's

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00:18:31,560 --> 00:18:34,920
Speaker 2: got real respect for his targets. Yeah. Anyway, second, little

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Speaker 2: breg Elizabeth, after these messages, we will check back in

381
00:18:37,520 --> 00:19:02,920
Speaker 2: on Weinberg and how these FBI shakes get to work. Excellent, Elizabeth,

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00:19:03,520 --> 00:19:05,520
Speaker 2: we're back. How are those ads? Huh so good?

383
00:19:05,920 --> 00:19:07,920
Speaker 3: Oh my gosh, there's so much I want to buy.

384
00:19:08,200 --> 00:19:11,040
Speaker 2: I know, where's my wallet? Where were we? Right? Yes,

385
00:19:11,600 --> 00:19:13,720
Speaker 2: we got a bunch of FBI agents pretending to be

386
00:19:13,760 --> 00:19:16,600
Speaker 2: Shakes to catch American gangsters. I love it, Okay, so

387
00:19:16,800 --> 00:19:20,280
Speaker 2: the swindler Weinberg, he earns the trust and a salary

388
00:19:20,320 --> 00:19:23,920
Speaker 2: from his FBI handlers. He repays them with new schemes.

389
00:19:24,240 --> 00:19:26,879
Speaker 2: Now they have their own criminal dreaming up crimes for

390
00:19:26,920 --> 00:19:30,199
Speaker 2: them to pull. After some initial successes, Weinberg comes up

391
00:19:30,200 --> 00:19:32,840
Speaker 2: with the act. He gets it down in pat He

392
00:19:33,160 --> 00:19:37,040
Speaker 2: will pose as an agent for this insanely wealthy Arab

393
00:19:37,119 --> 00:19:40,879
Speaker 2: named Shake Combo abdul Ramen. Fun fact, it seems like

394
00:19:40,920 --> 00:19:44,080
Speaker 2: he invented this namdu sting because Weinberg says he wants

395
00:19:44,119 --> 00:19:47,040
Speaker 2: sat next to a Combu abdul Ramen on a flight

396
00:19:47,080 --> 00:19:51,840
Speaker 2: from Paris and just took his name. There's a guy, Yeah, exactly, boy,

397
00:19:52,000 --> 00:19:55,359
Speaker 2: he's doing crimes in this guy's name. Anyway. The sheikh

398
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Speaker 2: who he's supposed to be is allegedly from the Arab Emirates.

399
00:19:58,400 --> 00:20:02,280
Speaker 2: He's a Gulf state Shake. That's the idea this imaginary shake.

400
00:20:02,760 --> 00:20:05,480
Speaker 2: The gambit is simple. Weineberg, posing as the agent. He

401
00:20:05,520 --> 00:20:08,119
Speaker 2: would find a purp approach them with an offer of

402
00:20:08,160 --> 00:20:10,760
Speaker 2: a loan from the Shakes, like I got some money

403
00:20:11,040 --> 00:20:14,760
Speaker 2: because due to the dictates of Islamic Shariah law. The

404
00:20:14,760 --> 00:20:18,359
Speaker 2: Shakes were forbidden from usury, right, they can't do normal

405
00:20:18,400 --> 00:20:21,000
Speaker 2: banking laws, and therefore they have to avoid the interest

406
00:20:21,080 --> 00:20:23,359
Speaker 2: of Western banks. And so that means that the Shakes

407
00:20:23,359 --> 00:20:25,679
Speaker 2: were looking for investment potential and that's where they like

408
00:20:25,720 --> 00:20:28,359
Speaker 2: to park their money. And so they loan money also

409
00:20:28,400 --> 00:20:32,000
Speaker 2: in exchange for say, fake certificates of deposit, so that

410
00:20:32,080 --> 00:20:34,439
Speaker 2: the Shakes can later withdraw their money from a Muslim

411
00:20:34,520 --> 00:20:36,960
Speaker 2: bank overseas. And people are like, oh, okay, they know

412
00:20:37,080 --> 00:20:39,920
Speaker 2: for this all scammers, right. The other scam that Weinberg

413
00:20:40,040 --> 00:20:43,000
Speaker 2: starts to work is he approaches a purp again posing

414
00:20:43,040 --> 00:20:45,840
Speaker 2: as the agent for the fake Shakes, and he says

415
00:20:45,880 --> 00:20:50,240
Speaker 2: he's looking for investment opportunities to skirt American banking oversight

416
00:20:50,280 --> 00:20:52,600
Speaker 2: because their fortunes are so vast and they'll be seized

417
00:20:52,640 --> 00:20:54,760
Speaker 2: if they know blah blah blah. Yeah, and then the

418
00:20:54,800 --> 00:20:57,520
Speaker 2: Shakes are also looking for you know, when I say

419
00:20:58,200 --> 00:21:02,680
Speaker 2: investment opportunities, we're talking expected businesses like American made porn films.

420
00:21:03,359 --> 00:21:05,440
Speaker 2: Whoa yeah. So people are like, oh, the Shakes really

421
00:21:05,440 --> 00:21:06,840
Speaker 2: want to get in this, were like, oh, yes, they

422
00:21:06,840 --> 00:21:08,680
Speaker 2: don't care as long as their names are not involved.

423
00:21:08,840 --> 00:21:12,240
Speaker 2: They're looking for solid businesses, good you know, bottom lines,

424
00:21:12,320 --> 00:21:14,119
Speaker 2: all that kind of stuff, like, oh, porn business for

425
00:21:14,160 --> 00:21:17,399
Speaker 2: you brother. So now you might be imagining the FBI

426
00:21:17,520 --> 00:21:20,080
Speaker 2: had these like the same guy always like pose as

427
00:21:20,119 --> 00:21:22,320
Speaker 2: the shake. Yeah, like you might be imagining some agent

428
00:21:22,400 --> 00:21:25,320
Speaker 2: of Arab descent who can carry off the act, who

429
00:21:25,320 --> 00:21:28,119
Speaker 2: can convincingly play a shake he speaks Arabic and you

430
00:21:28,119 --> 00:21:31,680
Speaker 2: would be wrong. Oh no, of course. The course they

431
00:21:31,680 --> 00:21:33,959
Speaker 2: have no respect for the role. So they're just like

432
00:21:34,040 --> 00:21:37,199
Speaker 2: you know, tonight the shake will be played by So

433
00:21:37,280 --> 00:21:40,920
Speaker 2: there's three different agents playing shake Rahmen. For the most part, right,

434
00:21:40,960 --> 00:21:43,240
Speaker 2: one of the agents is of Irish descent. I don't

435
00:21:43,240 --> 00:21:45,679
Speaker 2: know if he's a redhead, but he's of Irish descent.

436
00:21:46,119 --> 00:21:49,080
Speaker 2: He's a dude named Michael Danahey, but he was American.

437
00:21:49,119 --> 00:21:51,359
Speaker 2: I gave him the except for fun. He plays the shake,

438
00:21:51,440 --> 00:21:53,800
Speaker 2: and of course he didn't know a single word of Arabic,

439
00:21:53,840 --> 00:21:56,000
Speaker 2: so when he did try, he would just utter simple

440
00:21:56,000 --> 00:21:58,520
Speaker 2: phrases like and he couldn't even make it through, like

441
00:21:58,560 --> 00:22:02,800
Speaker 2: uh aslama lakeam. He'd be like like, oh it all

442
00:22:02,880 --> 00:22:04,680
Speaker 2: or whatever? Right, it come out of like a wholly

443
00:22:04,760 --> 00:22:08,200
Speaker 2: different set of vowels and consonants, and if I, if I imitated,

444
00:22:08,080 --> 00:22:10,359
Speaker 2: it would probably sound racist, right, So you.

445
00:22:10,320 --> 00:22:14,360
Speaker 3: Know, oh my god, I'm just trying to process this.

446
00:22:16,160 --> 00:22:17,800
Speaker 2: Now. I don't know if they got the memo after

447
00:22:17,880 --> 00:22:20,280
Speaker 2: Michael Dennehy's version of the ship played out a few times,

448
00:22:20,480 --> 00:22:23,560
Speaker 2: but eventually the FBI they drag in this agent who

449
00:22:23,600 --> 00:22:26,280
Speaker 2: is of Lebanese descent, much like Jamie Farr. They're like, oh,

450
00:22:26,320 --> 00:22:29,280
Speaker 2: this works enough, works in Cannonball, can you do it?

451
00:22:29,359 --> 00:22:31,680
Speaker 2: So I get this Elizabeth, this agent. He actually spoke

452
00:22:31,720 --> 00:22:34,440
Speaker 2: Arabic fluently, but he'd do some words so you could

453
00:22:34,480 --> 00:22:35,720
Speaker 2: muster a passing accent.

454
00:22:36,040 --> 00:22:39,080
Speaker 3: All of my friends from the region from the Levant. Yeah,

455
00:22:39,200 --> 00:22:43,280
Speaker 3: speaks so many languages, totally totally Yeah.

456
00:22:43,320 --> 00:22:46,760
Speaker 2: And dialects too. So anyway, where was I?

457
00:22:46,800 --> 00:22:46,919
Speaker 6: Oh?

458
00:22:47,000 --> 00:22:48,920
Speaker 2: So things they start to go better for the agents.

459
00:22:48,960 --> 00:22:51,119
Speaker 2: Now they've got this bit down. They got this second

460
00:22:51,160 --> 00:22:54,280
Speaker 2: sheek is more convincing than the Irish guy. So then

461
00:22:54,280 --> 00:22:56,280
Speaker 2: they decide, okay, well, now that we got down, we'll

462
00:22:56,320 --> 00:22:58,520
Speaker 2: bring in They bring in shake. Yes, Sayer Habib I

463
00:22:58,520 --> 00:23:01,080
Speaker 2: mentioned him earlier. He comes on. Now they got two

464
00:23:01,080 --> 00:23:04,080
Speaker 2: shakes and this second shake he's a goer, Elizabeth, because

465
00:23:04,119 --> 00:23:06,600
Speaker 2: soon enough he earns himself for promotion, he becomes a

466
00:23:06,680 --> 00:23:09,560
Speaker 2: mirror and so yeah, he's got his own He's the

467
00:23:09,600 --> 00:23:12,159
Speaker 2: leader of his own golf state. Apparently not bad for

468
00:23:12,200 --> 00:23:15,359
Speaker 2: a pretend shake. Anyway, Enough about the FBI guys playing

469
00:23:15,440 --> 00:23:19,600
Speaker 2: dress up like Frank Zappa, who were they targeting? Great question, Elizabe,

470
00:23:19,760 --> 00:23:22,320
Speaker 2: I'm so glad I asked that. Now, Weinberg he liked

471
00:23:22,359 --> 00:23:25,360
Speaker 2: to target obviously white collar criminals. That was the aim. Right.

472
00:23:25,400 --> 00:23:28,200
Speaker 2: So he finds this one guy, William Rosenberg, and he

473
00:23:28,440 --> 00:23:31,560
Speaker 2: approaches the agent for the fake Shakes with an angle

474
00:23:31,600 --> 00:23:35,400
Speaker 2: of some business in New Jersey. Right, so Weinberg the swindler.

475
00:23:35,440 --> 00:23:37,719
Speaker 2: He tells Rosenberg that the Shakes would like to invest,

476
00:23:37,720 --> 00:23:40,680
Speaker 2: are looking to invest in Atlantic City, and he thinks

477
00:23:40,720 --> 00:23:42,919
Speaker 2: that the casino business would be perfect for them and

478
00:23:42,960 --> 00:23:45,560
Speaker 2: their vast wealth. So he says, they have some money

479
00:23:45,600 --> 00:23:48,200
Speaker 2: to invest, but they'll need guarantees. They'll need guarantees that

480
00:23:48,240 --> 00:23:51,840
Speaker 2: they can be awarded a gambling license as foreigners. Now

481
00:23:51,960 --> 00:23:54,080
Speaker 2: we're talking serious money. You Now you have to understand

482
00:23:54,080 --> 00:23:56,040
Speaker 2: they have one hundred million dollars as they plan to

483
00:23:56,119 --> 00:23:59,440
Speaker 2: drop on Atlantic City. They'll transform the city into the

484
00:23:59,520 --> 00:24:01,480
Speaker 2: Los f He gets of the East. People are like,

485
00:24:01,480 --> 00:24:04,240
Speaker 2: oh yeah, Rosenberg, this purpose. He's like, I got people.

486
00:24:04,480 --> 00:24:06,680
Speaker 2: Don't you worry? I canna help you out. Turns out

487
00:24:06,720 --> 00:24:09,439
Speaker 2: he knows the mayor of Camden, New Jersey. Oh, this

488
00:24:09,520 --> 00:24:13,760
Speaker 2: guy's like a major power like player in Jersey politics.

489
00:24:14,040 --> 00:24:17,560
Speaker 2: Rosenberg says, I get Mayor Angela Erchetti to play ball,

490
00:24:17,640 --> 00:24:22,880
Speaker 2: right for a small fee. So the FBI informant Weinberger Swindler,

491
00:24:22,880 --> 00:24:24,840
Speaker 2: he invites the mayor to meet him at the Long

492
00:24:24,880 --> 00:24:28,840
Speaker 2: Island offices of Abdul Enterprises. Meet the shakes yourself, right.

493
00:24:28,880 --> 00:24:31,520
Speaker 2: So the office was of course fully kitted out with cameras,

494
00:24:31,560 --> 00:24:35,200
Speaker 2: hiding microphones and FBI special so the FBI records everything

495
00:24:35,200 --> 00:24:37,840
Speaker 2: that's said and everything that's done inside this office. And

496
00:24:37,840 --> 00:24:41,120
Speaker 2: the mayor shows up right. December nineteen seventy eight, Marriger

497
00:24:41,359 --> 00:24:44,359
Speaker 2: Eric Shetty arrives at the office of Abdul Enterprises. He

498
00:24:44,480 --> 00:24:47,120
Speaker 2: and Weinberg, the agent for the fake Shakes, They get

499
00:24:47,119 --> 00:24:49,199
Speaker 2: to talking about corruption, like, oh, you like coruption, I

500
00:24:49,240 --> 00:24:51,719
Speaker 2: love corruption. Let's do some corruption, right, what do these

501
00:24:51,720 --> 00:24:54,080
Speaker 2: fake shakes think about it? Or so obviously real shakes

502
00:24:54,080 --> 00:24:55,960
Speaker 2: to him. They get to talking about it. He's like,

503
00:24:56,000 --> 00:24:58,600
Speaker 2: so you want store bought casino licenses, that's the deal.

504
00:24:58,920 --> 00:25:01,600
Speaker 2: So Mayor Eric shetty. He starts to, you know, get

505
00:25:01,600 --> 00:25:03,480
Speaker 2: a little full of himself. He swells up a little.

506
00:25:03,520 --> 00:25:06,720
Speaker 2: He brags that he has contacts with the Casino Control Commission.

507
00:25:06,760 --> 00:25:09,280
Speaker 2: That's not problem for me, the mayor tells. The agent

508
00:25:09,520 --> 00:25:12,520
Speaker 2: tells this agent for the fake shakes Weinberg, I'll give

509
00:25:12,560 --> 00:25:15,600
Speaker 2: you Atlantic City without me. You do nothing.

510
00:25:16,720 --> 00:25:20,399
Speaker 3: It just plays into everyone's ideas.

511
00:25:19,280 --> 00:25:21,680
Speaker 2: And all the stereotypes. You got this like Italian mayor

512
00:25:21,720 --> 00:25:25,040
Speaker 2: of Jersey without me, you got nothing.

513
00:25:25,240 --> 00:25:26,399
Speaker 3: He's actually played.

514
00:25:26,960 --> 00:25:29,600
Speaker 2: But it is better because I don't even get this one.

515
00:25:29,640 --> 00:25:33,120
Speaker 2: He's Italian. They're apparently supposed to be fake Arabs. He said,

516
00:25:33,480 --> 00:25:35,040
Speaker 2: ends his quote with like, you know, I'll give you

517
00:25:35,080 --> 00:25:37,960
Speaker 2: Atlantic City without me, you do nothing. I'll be your rabbi,

518
00:25:38,960 --> 00:25:39,840
Speaker 2: Like I don't know if.

519
00:25:42,240 --> 00:25:42,840
Speaker 3: Italian.

520
00:25:43,800 --> 00:25:45,040
Speaker 2: I'll be a rabbi.

521
00:25:46,520 --> 00:25:47,120
Speaker 3: Into a bar.

522
00:25:48,320 --> 00:25:51,159
Speaker 2: Anyway. His price four hundred thousand dollars, So he's like,

523
00:25:51,200 --> 00:25:52,639
Speaker 2: he makes that clear. He's like, I will take that.

524
00:25:52,720 --> 00:25:55,119
Speaker 2: So now they got the mayor on tape naming his price.

525
00:25:55,800 --> 00:25:57,639
Speaker 2: So also he had his own ideas from some crimes

526
00:25:57,640 --> 00:25:59,159
Speaker 2: they could pull. He's like, I got other guys you

527
00:25:59,200 --> 00:26:00,879
Speaker 2: need to talk to. You got some loose money. I

528
00:26:00,880 --> 00:26:03,320
Speaker 2: got guys who are like vacuums. This is great. So

529
00:26:03,440 --> 00:26:06,080
Speaker 2: Weinberg would later recall he wanted me to get into

530
00:26:06,200 --> 00:26:08,960
Speaker 2: counterfeit money. He wanted to give us the Port of

531
00:26:09,000 --> 00:26:11,840
Speaker 2: Camden for narcotics. He's like, hey, what do you want

532
00:26:11,840 --> 00:26:13,800
Speaker 2: to run heroin? I saw the French connection. What are

533
00:26:13,800 --> 00:26:14,320
Speaker 2: you guys doing?

534
00:26:14,440 --> 00:26:15,000
Speaker 3: Oh my god.

535
00:26:15,200 --> 00:26:17,439
Speaker 2: So to get the casino license, which is what they

536
00:26:17,440 --> 00:26:20,080
Speaker 2: say they want, Eric Shetty, he said that he'd need

537
00:26:20,119 --> 00:26:23,080
Speaker 2: to bribe this dude McDonald to Kenneth McDonald, the vice

538
00:26:23,160 --> 00:26:26,600
Speaker 2: chairman of the Casino Control Commission. So that will cost

539
00:26:26,640 --> 00:26:28,879
Speaker 2: another hundred grand. All right, no problem, you guys got that.

540
00:26:29,280 --> 00:26:32,080
Speaker 2: So he later he visits Obdul Enterprises over on Long

541
00:26:32,119 --> 00:26:34,359
Speaker 2: Island to pick up the hundred large, which of course

542
00:26:34,359 --> 00:26:37,320
Speaker 2: gets recorded on videotape. So Weinberg gets to know this

543
00:26:37,359 --> 00:26:40,040
Speaker 2: new class of white collar criminals. He begins to think

544
00:26:40,080 --> 00:26:42,920
Speaker 2: of them as a quote, a bunch of perverts, drunks

545
00:26:42,920 --> 00:26:46,199
Speaker 2: and crooks. And he liked the mayor. Weinberg said he

546
00:26:46,200 --> 00:26:48,640
Speaker 2: could relate to him since quote, he's a likable guy.

547
00:26:48,680 --> 00:26:51,159
Speaker 2: He didn't beat around the bush. He wanted to make money.

548
00:26:51,920 --> 00:26:54,680
Speaker 2: So Mayor Eric Shetty, he's indeed, as I said, powerful

549
00:26:54,680 --> 00:26:56,919
Speaker 2: in South New Jersey. He's connections. They run all the

550
00:26:56,920 --> 00:27:00,200
Speaker 2: way up to the local congressman. He bragged about that too.

551
00:27:00,280 --> 00:27:01,959
Speaker 2: Is I can bag him for you if you want, right,

552
00:27:02,000 --> 00:27:04,960
Speaker 2: So Weinberg and his FBI handlers they start. They change

553
00:27:05,000 --> 00:27:07,240
Speaker 2: their cover story now for the fake shakes. They don't

554
00:27:07,240 --> 00:27:09,840
Speaker 2: want to just get into the gambling business in Atlantic City.

555
00:27:10,000 --> 00:27:12,080
Speaker 2: They had a new wrinkle to see if they can

556
00:27:12,119 --> 00:27:15,120
Speaker 2: bake the hook for a congressman. So they tell Eric

557
00:27:15,160 --> 00:27:17,720
Speaker 2: Shetty that that's fake shakes. They also need help with

558
00:27:17,800 --> 00:27:20,680
Speaker 2: some problems, uh deportation. Yeah, yeah, see they're trying to

559
00:27:20,720 --> 00:27:23,159
Speaker 2: get rid of they can't get You can't let this happen, right, Well,

560
00:27:23,160 --> 00:27:25,679
Speaker 2: they'll pay, you have to understand. So the mayor tells

561
00:27:25,680 --> 00:27:28,160
Speaker 2: the undercover FBI informed that's no problem, we can take

562
00:27:28,160 --> 00:27:29,960
Speaker 2: care of that. So he gets them set up with

563
00:27:30,040 --> 00:27:33,680
Speaker 2: some congressmen who will sponsor legislation in Congress that will

564
00:27:33,720 --> 00:27:37,359
Speaker 2: cover the fake shakes. No way, of course, Elizabeth. There

565
00:27:37,359 --> 00:27:40,400
Speaker 2: will be a charge for such a service. So Weinberg,

566
00:27:40,440 --> 00:27:43,199
Speaker 2: the undercover FBI informed, He's like, no problem, money is

567
00:27:43,240 --> 00:27:45,479
Speaker 2: not a problem. Look at these guys, right, So if

568
00:27:45,480 --> 00:27:48,480
Speaker 2: the Arabs have money to buy politicians and Mayor Eric Shetty,

569
00:27:48,720 --> 00:27:51,720
Speaker 2: he will provide the invites. So, now the FBI is

570
00:27:51,760 --> 00:27:55,600
Speaker 2: in the congressional corruption sting business, so may Eric Sheddy.

571
00:27:55,600 --> 00:27:57,960
Speaker 2: He brings in political players from the tri state area.

572
00:27:58,040 --> 00:28:01,040
Speaker 2: We're talking New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania. Who do you

573
00:28:01,080 --> 00:28:03,639
Speaker 2: want Congressman? What do you be a senator? So he

574
00:28:03,640 --> 00:28:06,840
Speaker 2: starts introducing the fake shakes there and their undercover informant

575
00:28:06,840 --> 00:28:10,679
Speaker 2: Weinberg who's proposing as their agent to Philadelphia Congressman Raymond

576
00:28:10,720 --> 00:28:15,400
Speaker 2: f Lederer and Michael Ozzy Myers. Right, the mayor promises

577
00:28:15,400 --> 00:28:18,440
Speaker 2: Weinberg that, oh, you're gonna like Congressman Ozzie Myers. He's

578
00:28:18,440 --> 00:28:21,320
Speaker 2: our kind of people, now, Elizabeth, remember the offices of

579
00:28:21,359 --> 00:28:24,479
Speaker 2: Abdul Enterprises all micd up. There's hidden cameras everywhere, right,

580
00:28:24,480 --> 00:28:27,879
Speaker 2: it's basically a film set. Weinberg would often wear a wire,

581
00:28:28,040 --> 00:28:30,240
Speaker 2: you know. So he's also on top of that, he's

582
00:28:30,280 --> 00:28:31,760
Speaker 2: like going out in the field. Right, So he's got

583
00:28:31,760 --> 00:28:33,359
Speaker 2: a meeting in a car. He just wears a shir

584
00:28:33,480 --> 00:28:36,080
Speaker 2: why not. So even when he meets politicians in public

585
00:28:36,080 --> 00:28:38,920
Speaker 2: places to talk about their corruption plans, we still know

586
00:28:39,000 --> 00:28:39,960
Speaker 2: exactly what we said.

587
00:28:40,000 --> 00:28:40,600
Speaker 3: So yeah.

588
00:28:40,680 --> 00:28:43,840
Speaker 2: For instance, in August of seventy nine, Weinberg and a

589
00:28:43,880 --> 00:28:47,200
Speaker 2: bagman for the Sheiks who is actually an undercover FBI agent.

590
00:28:47,240 --> 00:28:51,240
Speaker 2: Of course, they meet Mayor Eric Shetty at JFK Airport

591
00:28:51,320 --> 00:28:54,880
Speaker 2: for a payoff. Okay, they sat together in the Northwest

592
00:28:54,920 --> 00:28:55,840
Speaker 2: Airlines lounge.

593
00:28:55,920 --> 00:28:57,240
Speaker 3: Oh rip, definitely.

594
00:28:57,480 --> 00:28:59,920
Speaker 2: The mayor told the FBI informant, an undercover agent, that

595
00:29:00,040 --> 00:29:04,200
Speaker 2: Congressman Ozzi Myers quote, He's gonna be your man, period,

596
00:29:04,560 --> 00:29:08,360
Speaker 2: anything you want. Oh wow. So Weinberg calls the mayor

597
00:29:08,400 --> 00:29:10,800
Speaker 2: by his nickname. That's the level that they're on now, right,

598
00:29:10,840 --> 00:29:14,240
Speaker 2: he says, Angi's always got to tell you, sierr is

599
00:29:14,280 --> 00:29:17,120
Speaker 2: that ah, when the time comes, I will sponsor anything

600
00:29:17,160 --> 00:29:18,560
Speaker 2: you want. That's all he's asking for.

601
00:29:18,680 --> 00:29:18,880
Speaker 4: Right.

602
00:29:18,960 --> 00:29:22,520
Speaker 2: So now the mayor responds, He'll say that, let me

603
00:29:22,520 --> 00:29:26,800
Speaker 2: tell you something. This guy's good. Myers is good. So Elizabeth,

604
00:29:26,840 --> 00:29:30,240
Speaker 2: he was indeed good at the corruption kind of except

605
00:29:30,280 --> 00:29:33,280
Speaker 2: for the getting caught part. Congressman Ozzie Myers. He meets

606
00:29:33,280 --> 00:29:36,440
Speaker 2: with Weinberg and the undercover FBI agents at the Airport

607
00:29:36,480 --> 00:29:38,800
Speaker 2: Hotel near JFK Airport. Apparently it is just like the

608
00:29:38,800 --> 00:29:41,880
Speaker 2: spot in New York. Yeah, so it's now August twenty second,

609
00:29:41,920 --> 00:29:45,760
Speaker 2: nineteen seventy nine. He's handed fifty thousand dollars in cash

610
00:29:45,880 --> 00:29:49,600
Speaker 2: in a briefcase on camera on camp. Just as promises,

611
00:29:49,640 --> 00:29:51,480
Speaker 2: he says he will do his part to make the

612
00:29:51,520 --> 00:29:54,040
Speaker 2: fake shake's plans work out. He tells the agent he

613
00:29:54,080 --> 00:29:57,720
Speaker 2: will introduce an immigration bill into Congress, and he'll even

614
00:29:57,720 --> 00:29:59,960
Speaker 2: speak to the folks at the State Department. Whatever you guys.

615
00:30:01,040 --> 00:30:01,680
Speaker 3: Oh wow.

616
00:30:01,800 --> 00:30:05,520
Speaker 2: So during their meeting, recorded on FBI surveillance, Congressman II

617
00:30:05,560 --> 00:30:09,160
Speaker 2: Meyers assured his co conspirators and I quote money talks

618
00:30:09,200 --> 00:30:13,720
Speaker 2: in this business and walks, oh god. So from that point,

619
00:30:13,920 --> 00:30:16,080
Speaker 2: for that fifty thousand dollars he picked up, he only

620
00:30:16,160 --> 00:30:19,200
Speaker 2: kept fifteen grand for himself. He spread the juice around

621
00:30:19,240 --> 00:30:20,840
Speaker 2: like bribe money for all the others, all of his

622
00:30:20,920 --> 00:30:25,440
Speaker 2: other coke conspirators. Right over time, Mayor Angie Araschetti, he

623
00:30:25,560 --> 00:30:29,120
Speaker 2: brings mel Weinberg, the Swindler, a whole basketball team's worth

624
00:30:29,160 --> 00:30:31,800
Speaker 2: of corrupt politicians for the FBI to bust. The list

625
00:30:31,840 --> 00:30:34,760
Speaker 2: of congressmen includes a Senator for New Jersey, Harrison A.

626
00:30:35,360 --> 00:30:40,080
Speaker 2: Pete Williams, Representatives John Jenrett of South Carolina, Richard Kelly

627
00:30:40,080 --> 00:30:43,800
Speaker 2: of Florida, John Murphy of Staten Island, Frank Thompson of Trenton,

628
00:30:43,800 --> 00:30:46,560
Speaker 2: New Jersey. Thompson initially didn't take the money. He's like

629
00:30:46,560 --> 00:30:50,240
Speaker 2: a really well respected congressman. So the swindler Weinberg has

630
00:30:50,240 --> 00:30:52,600
Speaker 2: to go at him twice. He got him second time.

631
00:30:52,840 --> 00:30:53,320
Speaker 6: No way.

632
00:30:53,600 --> 00:30:55,760
Speaker 2: Now what about the two shakes getting in on the action.

633
00:30:55,840 --> 00:30:58,560
Speaker 2: We gotta have a story of that, right, Elizabeth. We do.

634
00:30:59,240 --> 00:31:01,200
Speaker 2: For instance, there's this story of when Weinberg and his

635
00:31:01,240 --> 00:31:04,440
Speaker 2: two fake shakes met with Senator Harrison Pete Williams. The

636
00:31:04,560 --> 00:31:06,800
Speaker 2: highest ranking member of Congress who was caught up in

637
00:31:06,800 --> 00:31:09,600
Speaker 2: this sting was Senator Pete Williams. Okay, he was a

638
00:31:09,600 --> 00:31:11,920
Speaker 2: Democrat from New Jersey. When the swindle of Rheinberg, he

639
00:31:11,960 --> 00:31:14,040
Speaker 2: reaches out to him with an offer of a payoff

640
00:31:14,120 --> 00:31:16,800
Speaker 2: from the fake shakes. There was no cash offer. This

641
00:31:16,880 --> 00:31:20,360
Speaker 2: is complicated bribing. He instead said that the fake shakes

642
00:31:20,360 --> 00:31:23,800
Speaker 2: would offer the Senator an eighteen percent ownership stake in

643
00:31:23,840 --> 00:31:28,480
Speaker 2: a titanium mine, okay, And in exchange, Senator Williams would

644
00:31:28,480 --> 00:31:31,400
Speaker 2: of course expedite the immigration bill and the licenses for

645
00:31:31,480 --> 00:31:34,120
Speaker 2: the casino construction. And then for the fake shakes also

646
00:31:34,200 --> 00:31:36,920
Speaker 2: they would get he would steer a government contract to

647
00:31:37,080 --> 00:31:40,120
Speaker 2: the titanium mine, so both parties would profit from that.

648
00:31:40,280 --> 00:31:41,040
Speaker 3: Oh my god.

649
00:31:41,240 --> 00:31:43,480
Speaker 2: Now keep in mind, as I said, Senator Pete Williams

650
00:31:43,480 --> 00:31:46,400
Speaker 2: received no actual payoff, just a promise of profits. So

651
00:31:46,440 --> 00:31:48,840
Speaker 2: the meeting was with the two fake shakes, and being

652
00:31:48,880 --> 00:31:51,240
Speaker 2: the nineteen seventies, of course, the meeting took place aboard

653
00:31:51,280 --> 00:31:54,480
Speaker 2: a yacht. It's a yacht party in del Rey, Florida.

654
00:31:55,400 --> 00:31:57,440
Speaker 2: The meeting was an interesting affair. But rather than take

655
00:31:57,440 --> 00:32:00,120
Speaker 2: mine before port, Elizabeth, I'd like you to close your eyes.

656
00:32:00,280 --> 00:32:04,320
Speaker 2: I'd like those to picture it. It's a late March

657
00:32:04,360 --> 00:32:08,320
Speaker 2: afternoon named del Rey, Florida. Despite the month, since it's Florida,

658
00:32:08,400 --> 00:32:11,840
Speaker 2: it's still warm. Elizabeth. You are aboard a yacht, the Corsair,

659
00:32:12,120 --> 00:32:16,120
Speaker 2: sitting at anchor in the marina. Seagulls call waves lap

660
00:32:16,120 --> 00:32:19,120
Speaker 2: at the dock pilings, and oh yeah, this boat is

661
00:32:19,160 --> 00:32:21,960
Speaker 2: a rocket. There's a yacht party underway. New guests have

662
00:32:22,080 --> 00:32:26,120
Speaker 2: just arrived. Unfortunately, Elizabeth, you're here because you're working. The

663
00:32:26,120 --> 00:32:28,320
Speaker 2: theme for this yacht party is a new hit show,

664
00:32:28,400 --> 00:32:31,200
Speaker 2: the love Boat. This means you're working with a bartender

665
00:32:31,200 --> 00:32:33,400
Speaker 2: who's supposed to be a lookalike for the Afrod love

666
00:32:33,440 --> 00:32:37,760
Speaker 2: Boat bartender Isaac. He's close, but he's no eyes anyway,

667
00:32:37,880 --> 00:32:40,120
Speaker 2: you're mixing my ties as you watch the new guest

668
00:32:40,120 --> 00:32:43,280
Speaker 2: step aboard. Out front is a charismatic mayor from New

669
00:32:43,360 --> 00:32:46,880
Speaker 2: Jersey named Angela Aroshetti. The party is in his honor.

670
00:32:46,960 --> 00:32:49,400
Speaker 2: With him is a curious entourage. There's a man who

671
00:32:49,400 --> 00:32:52,400
Speaker 2: looks important and he is. It's US Senator Pete Williams,

672
00:32:52,600 --> 00:32:54,880
Speaker 2: also of New Jersey. Also with the Mayor's what looks

673
00:32:54,880 --> 00:32:57,720
Speaker 2: to be a shake and his interpreter, he's announced as

674
00:32:57,960 --> 00:33:01,480
Speaker 2: is Eminence. Shake you, Sir Rabi. The shak is dressed

675
00:33:01,520 --> 00:33:04,520
Speaker 2: in the traditional robe, the burnous, the white, flowing regal

676
00:33:04,600 --> 00:33:07,640
Speaker 2: looking striking on his head. He wears a cafea the

677
00:33:07,680 --> 00:33:11,920
Speaker 2: traditional Arab chik headdress, his eyes shielded by designer sunglasses.

678
00:33:11,920 --> 00:33:14,400
Speaker 2: You're called over by the yacht over. Guess you're supposed

679
00:33:14,440 --> 00:33:17,280
Speaker 2: to play waitress for this crowd. You come over greet

680
00:33:17,320 --> 00:33:19,400
Speaker 2: the guests. You ask the Shake if he'd like something

681
00:33:19,400 --> 00:33:22,040
Speaker 2: to drink. He looks to his interpreter, who then repeats

682
00:33:22,080 --> 00:33:24,040
Speaker 2: what you just said, but in what sounds like, I

683
00:33:24,040 --> 00:33:27,120
Speaker 2: don't know, guttural, made up impression of Arabic. But hey,

684
00:33:27,120 --> 00:33:29,120
Speaker 2: what do you know? The Shak responds, and then the

685
00:33:29,120 --> 00:33:31,680
Speaker 2: interpreter turns to you and says, orange juice, twist of

686
00:33:31,760 --> 00:33:34,600
Speaker 2: lun Now you ask the others what they'd care to drink.

687
00:33:34,600 --> 00:33:37,560
Speaker 2: The important looking man he says he'd like a Scotch neat.

688
00:33:37,600 --> 00:33:39,560
Speaker 2: The mayor from New Jersey asks for a Scotch but

689
00:33:39,640 --> 00:33:41,960
Speaker 2: on the rocks. The interpreter doesn't say what he wants.

690
00:33:42,040 --> 00:33:43,800
Speaker 2: You decide you'll make him an orange juice, the same

691
00:33:43,800 --> 00:33:46,400
Speaker 2: as for the chik. You go back, you mix the drinks.

692
00:33:46,480 --> 00:33:49,440
Speaker 2: Ice cubes hit the glass. That's for the Scotch on rocks.

693
00:33:49,680 --> 00:33:52,560
Speaker 2: Next is the Scotch neat, and then the two orange

694
00:33:52,640 --> 00:33:55,600
Speaker 2: juices with a twist of lime. You return with the drinks.

695
00:33:55,600 --> 00:33:57,560
Speaker 2: When you get back, the men are now all seated.

696
00:33:57,760 --> 00:33:59,920
Speaker 2: You hand out the drinks and you hear the interpreters

697
00:34:00,120 --> 00:34:03,480
Speaker 2: speaking with the shake. Now you're pretty damn sure he's

698
00:34:03,520 --> 00:34:06,040
Speaker 2: just making up sounds there is no way that's Arabic,

699
00:34:06,360 --> 00:34:09,600
Speaker 2: but hey, what do you know exactly? The shake seems

700
00:34:09,640 --> 00:34:12,560
Speaker 2: to like what he hears. He then nods, smiles, laughs

701
00:34:12,560 --> 00:34:14,160
Speaker 2: a little, and then the shake says something in a

702
00:34:14,200 --> 00:34:18,000
Speaker 2: low voice. It also sounds like make believe movie Arabic.

703
00:34:18,320 --> 00:34:20,840
Speaker 2: The interpreter turns to the group and he says, the

704
00:34:20,920 --> 00:34:24,720
Speaker 2: shake is delighted with your open spirit, most strong, very masculine.

705
00:34:25,120 --> 00:34:27,440
Speaker 2: You roll your eyes as you hear the important man.

706
00:34:27,480 --> 00:34:30,640
Speaker 2: The senators laugh and loudly say, you tell the Shake.

707
00:34:30,719 --> 00:34:33,080
Speaker 2: I'll do all I can. You tell them, I'll deliver

708
00:34:33,200 --> 00:34:36,279
Speaker 2: my end. You head back to the bar, Elizabeth. Next

709
00:34:36,280 --> 00:34:37,920
Speaker 2: time you look back, the men are now posing for

710
00:34:38,000 --> 00:34:42,200
Speaker 2: a photo. Oh god, So after that yacht party, Elizabeth,

711
00:34:42,360 --> 00:34:43,560
Speaker 2: the deal was not done.

712
00:34:43,360 --> 00:34:44,800
Speaker 3: With it's photographic evidence.

713
00:34:44,880 --> 00:34:46,440
Speaker 2: Yeah, that was a great photo for them on the

714
00:34:46,440 --> 00:34:50,640
Speaker 2: boat together. It took three more meetings that took place

715
00:34:50,719 --> 00:34:54,440
Speaker 2: over several months in Manhattan at the Pierre Hotel. The

716
00:34:54,480 --> 00:34:57,319
Speaker 2: senator medigan with Weinberg, you know the Pierre. Yes, that's

717
00:34:57,400 --> 00:35:00,239
Speaker 2: right for your story. So the senert he he meets

718
00:35:00,239 --> 00:35:02,520
Speaker 2: with Weinberg and the Shake, and they agreed to invest

719
00:35:02,520 --> 00:35:05,160
Speaker 2: one hundred million dollars in the titanium mine and they

720
00:35:05,160 --> 00:35:07,160
Speaker 2: made a deal for Williams to get his cut. They

721
00:35:07,160 --> 00:35:09,719
Speaker 2: present him with like his ownership papers as stock certificates.

722
00:35:10,080 --> 00:35:13,320
Speaker 2: In Arlington, Virginia, the Senator meets again and he promises

723
00:35:13,360 --> 00:35:15,359
Speaker 2: the fake shake he will use his influence to get

724
00:35:15,400 --> 00:35:18,960
Speaker 2: the military contracts going help the mind development along. They're

725
00:35:19,000 --> 00:35:22,400
Speaker 2: all going to be in swell. Finally, last meeting at

726
00:35:22,440 --> 00:35:26,640
Speaker 2: JFK Airport once again, Senator. He's winging his way to Paris.

727
00:35:26,640 --> 00:35:28,200
Speaker 2: He's about to catch a flight, so he just pops

728
00:35:28,239 --> 00:35:30,359
Speaker 2: over to meet Weinberg in the fake shake. At the

729
00:35:30,560 --> 00:35:33,360
Speaker 2: airport hotel, he stops off to pick up the stock

730
00:35:33,400 --> 00:35:36,560
Speaker 2: certificates for the mine. All of this was recorded on

731
00:35:36,640 --> 00:35:39,360
Speaker 2: hidden mike surveillance cameras. The Senator, in other words, was

732
00:35:39,880 --> 00:35:43,880
Speaker 2: now having he was stuck with incontrovertible proof of his crimes.

733
00:35:44,880 --> 00:35:47,200
Speaker 2: So there you go, a recorded look behind the curtain

734
00:35:47,239 --> 00:35:49,680
Speaker 2: of corruption. Okay, let's take a little break, Elizabeth, and

735
00:35:49,680 --> 00:35:51,839
Speaker 2: after this, I will tell you what happens when abscam

736
00:35:51,920 --> 00:35:55,200
Speaker 2: hits the fan and shocks a nation that's still recovering

737
00:35:55,200 --> 00:35:55,920
Speaker 2: from Watergate.

738
00:35:56,200 --> 00:36:19,600
Speaker 7: Yeah, and isabey so abscam?

739
00:36:19,640 --> 00:36:20,279
Speaker 2: How are you liking it?

740
00:36:20,520 --> 00:36:23,760
Speaker 3: So it's the scope is so big.

741
00:36:23,880 --> 00:36:25,440
Speaker 2: Yeah, right, start out with a little time.

742
00:36:25,760 --> 00:36:28,120
Speaker 3: These little tiny hotel room meetings and.

743
00:36:28,040 --> 00:36:29,439
Speaker 2: Start out with like they're going to get some Long

744
00:36:29,440 --> 00:36:31,879
Speaker 2: Island white color criminals and work with the mob. They're

745
00:36:31,920 --> 00:36:33,600
Speaker 2: just trying to clean up Whoever's.

746
00:36:33,600 --> 00:36:36,239
Speaker 3: What's jumping out to me is that he goes, you know,

747
00:36:36,280 --> 00:36:39,960
Speaker 3: the fake shake is like, we're having immigration issues. They're like,

748
00:36:40,120 --> 00:36:42,720
Speaker 3: instead of saying we're just going to address your issue,

749
00:36:42,760 --> 00:36:45,440
Speaker 3: they're like, let's just do some legislation.

750
00:36:45,000 --> 00:36:46,000
Speaker 2: About immigration bill.

751
00:36:46,080 --> 00:36:48,480
Speaker 3: And it doesn't seem like it's that expensive.

752
00:36:48,719 --> 00:36:52,239
Speaker 2: No, also seems rather common. Yeah, they have answers that

753
00:36:52,320 --> 00:36:54,040
Speaker 2: this is not These are not the first people who

754
00:36:54,160 --> 00:36:54,680
Speaker 2: came to them.

755
00:36:54,719 --> 00:36:56,719
Speaker 3: We got to think about what we want to go

756
00:36:56,800 --> 00:36:59,320
Speaker 3: to someone with, what kind of legislation.

757
00:36:58,880 --> 00:37:00,480
Speaker 2: What kind of ridiculous crime all we want?

758
00:37:00,640 --> 00:37:04,719
Speaker 3: Yeah, the ridiculous Zarens law.

759
00:37:08,120 --> 00:37:10,840
Speaker 2: So at this point, now we have the New Jersey

760
00:37:10,880 --> 00:37:13,560
Speaker 2: mayor who's opened the door to political corruption, which leads

761
00:37:13,800 --> 00:37:16,239
Speaker 2: to a road right through the power politics in the

762
00:37:16,239 --> 00:37:18,920
Speaker 2: tri state area of New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania

763
00:37:18,960 --> 00:37:20,759
Speaker 2: that then leads all the way to Washington, d C.

764
00:37:20,880 --> 00:37:24,120
Speaker 2: In the US Congress. The other senator who got caught

765
00:37:24,160 --> 00:37:27,239
Speaker 2: up in this FBI sting was Senator Larry Presler. He

766
00:37:27,280 --> 00:37:30,520
Speaker 2: was a Republican from South Dakota. Don't even see that coming,

767
00:37:30,840 --> 00:37:33,920
Speaker 2: Yeah right, So, what's this Republican from South Dakota doing

768
00:37:33,960 --> 00:37:36,240
Speaker 2: it on this scam? Well, he'd been a congressman first,

769
00:37:36,239 --> 00:37:38,200
Speaker 2: but then in nineteen seventy eight he runs for the

770
00:37:38,280 --> 00:37:41,200
Speaker 2: Senate and he wins. Then Senator Presler he was, by

771
00:37:41,239 --> 00:37:44,160
Speaker 2: the way, the first Vietnam veteran to be elected to Senate.

772
00:37:44,520 --> 00:37:47,600
Speaker 2: This is like seventeen eight. He's very fresh out of

773
00:37:47,600 --> 00:37:48,120
Speaker 2: the war.

774
00:37:48,400 --> 00:37:50,360
Speaker 3: And he, guys, still got his uniform.

775
00:37:50,080 --> 00:37:51,719
Speaker 2: Pretty much like team you take that hat off.

776
00:37:53,320 --> 00:37:54,120
Speaker 3: Yeah.

777
00:37:54,160 --> 00:37:55,719
Speaker 2: So I guess he was feeling pretty high in his

778
00:37:55,719 --> 00:37:58,320
Speaker 2: own supply because in nineteen seventy nine, after being elected

779
00:37:58,320 --> 00:38:00,720
Speaker 2: to Senate, he the he decides to run for president.

780
00:38:00,880 --> 00:38:03,520
Speaker 2: He's like, why not, I'm a Republican. It's nineteen eighty.

781
00:38:03,560 --> 00:38:06,360
Speaker 2: People are they've forgotten about Watergate enough? You know, we

782
00:38:06,440 --> 00:38:07,239
Speaker 2: got Jimmy.

783
00:38:06,920 --> 00:38:09,960
Speaker 3: Carter got There's no one else in the eighties, nobody run.

784
00:38:10,000 --> 00:38:12,320
Speaker 2: Yeah, no one, No one leaps to mind. In nineteen

785
00:38:12,400 --> 00:38:16,400
Speaker 2: eighty giant figure, No, no so, needless say, he didn't make.

786
00:38:16,280 --> 00:38:18,000
Speaker 3: It known to the entire country.

787
00:38:18,080 --> 00:38:20,640
Speaker 2: He didn't make it far into the primary, said Ronald Reagan,

788
00:38:21,080 --> 00:38:24,359
Speaker 2: mopped up the whole shield. So but the dude did

789
00:38:24,440 --> 00:38:26,040
Speaker 2: manage to rack up a hell of a lot of

790
00:38:26,080 --> 00:38:29,040
Speaker 2: debt from his presidential campaign. Oh boy. So that's when

791
00:38:29,080 --> 00:38:31,759
Speaker 2: the FBI informant Weinberger approached him with an offer from

792
00:38:31,800 --> 00:38:34,960
Speaker 2: the fake Shakes. Oh, someone from one of his fundraisers

793
00:38:34,960 --> 00:38:36,600
Speaker 2: makes the connection. All right, They're like, oh, you've got

794
00:38:36,600 --> 00:38:38,840
Speaker 2: to meet these guys. There's these shakes in Washington. Everybody's

795
00:38:38,840 --> 00:38:40,920
Speaker 2: getting in on it. So the meeting is set up

796
00:38:40,960 --> 00:38:44,040
Speaker 2: for at a tony home in Georgetown, like where all

797
00:38:44,040 --> 00:38:47,440
Speaker 2: the good corruptions done. As an FBI man, John F. Good,

798
00:38:47,520 --> 00:38:50,080
Speaker 2: remember the guys running all this, he recalled a We

799
00:38:50,239 --> 00:38:53,000
Speaker 2: chased him actually, like they aimed at this guy.

800
00:38:53,320 --> 00:38:57,600
Speaker 3: So they figure that he's a vulnerable, you know, position.

801
00:38:57,320 --> 00:38:59,160
Speaker 2: Totally and he's full of himself. I think he made

802
00:38:59,200 --> 00:39:00,680
Speaker 2: a couple of enemies. It's been this whole long. I'm

803
00:39:00,680 --> 00:39:03,120
Speaker 2: gonna run for president. Yeah, anyway, I don't know, I'm

804
00:39:03,120 --> 00:39:06,520
Speaker 2: just speculating. A while on hidden camera, old Senator Presler

805
00:39:06,560 --> 00:39:08,600
Speaker 2: was offered a bribe of fifty thousand dollars, a going

806
00:39:08,680 --> 00:39:11,480
Speaker 2: rate for senators. Apparently, the payoff would be paid in

807
00:39:11,520 --> 00:39:14,279
Speaker 2: exchange for his help to for the two shakes to

808
00:39:14,320 --> 00:39:17,600
Speaker 2: get their deportation problems cleared up. Right, So this first

809
00:39:17,640 --> 00:39:20,480
Speaker 2: time senator, he's new at this level. He says, I'll

810
00:39:20,520 --> 00:39:21,960
Speaker 2: look into it. Let me go talk to my guys.

811
00:39:22,239 --> 00:39:24,279
Speaker 2: But he promises nothing more than I will go look

812
00:39:24,320 --> 00:39:27,000
Speaker 2: into it. Now that's important that he promised them nothing.

813
00:39:27,239 --> 00:39:30,120
Speaker 2: But he was recorded saying, and I quote, in any event,

814
00:39:30,200 --> 00:39:32,040
Speaker 2: it would not be proper for me to promise to

815
00:39:32,080 --> 00:39:35,360
Speaker 2: do anything in exchange for a campaign contribution. So he

816
00:39:35,440 --> 00:39:37,480
Speaker 2: just tells them right like, I can't do it when

817
00:39:37,520 --> 00:39:41,280
Speaker 2: it comes to payoffs. At the time, we can get around.

818
00:39:41,320 --> 00:39:41,520
Speaker 3: Then.

819
00:39:41,880 --> 00:39:43,640
Speaker 2: Now that when it comes to the payoffs, there's this

820
00:39:43,680 --> 00:39:46,279
Speaker 2: guy who's like the other major bag man. It was

821
00:39:46,320 --> 00:39:50,320
Speaker 2: Mayor Eric Haschetti's friend, Howard Crichton. He's a Philadelphia based

822
00:39:50,400 --> 00:39:53,279
Speaker 2: real estate lawyer. Okay, right. He Ultimately he becomes the

823
00:39:53,280 --> 00:39:55,880
Speaker 2: one who starts bringing in the congressman for the shakes.

824
00:39:56,520 --> 00:39:58,440
Speaker 2: For the congressman, the FBI had, as I said, they

825
00:39:58,480 --> 00:40:01,600
Speaker 2: set up this house on w in Washington, d c

826
00:40:01,760 --> 00:40:04,160
Speaker 2: to go along with their georgetownhouse. I guess they set

827
00:40:04,200 --> 00:40:06,960
Speaker 2: up mikes and cameras, and then they invited the congressmen

828
00:40:06,960 --> 00:40:08,759
Speaker 2: to come by and pick up the cash at the

829
00:40:08,800 --> 00:40:11,239
Speaker 2: house with the fake shakes and come by meet the shak.

830
00:40:11,400 --> 00:40:11,720
Speaker 3: Yeah.

831
00:40:11,760 --> 00:40:14,160
Speaker 2: Now there they would meet at shake Rahmen and Shaka

832
00:40:14,280 --> 00:40:17,680
Speaker 2: later Amir Habib. So, according to those who visited the

833
00:40:17,719 --> 00:40:19,839
Speaker 2: house for the surveillance cameras to be able to get

834
00:40:19,880 --> 00:40:22,160
Speaker 2: clean photos and video, because this is like nineteen eighties

835
00:40:22,239 --> 00:40:25,400
Speaker 2: video cameras, the home's porch lights were so bright that

836
00:40:25,440 --> 00:40:29,239
Speaker 2: the congressmen are often seen squinting in the photos. They're

837
00:40:29,320 --> 00:40:31,880
Speaker 2: right there on the front porch like oh god, my eyes.

838
00:40:32,440 --> 00:40:35,040
Speaker 2: Now they had a reason to explain away the super

839
00:40:35,080 --> 00:40:38,720
Speaker 2: bright lights. The fake shake explained through his interpreter, obviously

840
00:40:39,040 --> 00:40:41,520
Speaker 2: that he liked the lights to be so bright because

841
00:40:41,520 --> 00:40:44,320
Speaker 2: he missed the bright, hot, sunny deserts of his homeland.

842
00:40:44,360 --> 00:40:46,400
Speaker 3: We'll get out of here, and they went for it.

843
00:40:46,440 --> 00:40:47,480
Speaker 2: They're like, oh, it makes sense to me.

844
00:40:47,719 --> 00:40:48,240
Speaker 4: Uh shake.

845
00:40:48,680 --> 00:40:51,880
Speaker 2: Oh, So this Philly lawyer, the bagman, cried and he

846
00:40:51,960 --> 00:40:54,640
Speaker 2: brings congressmen after congressmen by the house to meet and

847
00:40:54,640 --> 00:40:57,239
Speaker 2: greet and get paid by the shakes. Yeah, so Pennsylvania

848
00:40:57,239 --> 00:41:00,279
Speaker 2: Democrats Raymond Larder, he was forty one of the time.

849
00:41:00,320 --> 00:41:02,960
Speaker 2: In Michael Ozzie Meyer's thirty six, they both get filmed

850
00:41:02,960 --> 00:41:05,480
Speaker 2: at the house picking up their briefcases of cash. There

851
00:41:05,520 --> 00:41:08,080
Speaker 2: was another one, New York Democrat John Murphy fifty three.

852
00:41:08,160 --> 00:41:11,120
Speaker 2: He gets picked up, but he was already under investigation

853
00:41:11,239 --> 00:41:13,480
Speaker 2: by the House Ethics Committee, so he didn't want to

854
00:41:13,480 --> 00:41:15,560
Speaker 2: actually pick up the money himself, so he made cride

855
00:41:15,600 --> 00:41:16,399
Speaker 2: and bring it to him.

856
00:41:16,920 --> 00:41:18,000
Speaker 3: Oh God.

857
00:41:18,040 --> 00:41:21,319
Speaker 2: So when a Republican Congressman from Florida, Richard Kelly fifty five,

858
00:41:21,640 --> 00:41:23,600
Speaker 2: he hears about the shakes giving out all this money

859
00:41:23,600 --> 00:41:25,799
Speaker 2: to his like, you know, colleagues, He's like, where do

860
00:41:25,840 --> 00:41:28,959
Speaker 2: I get in line? I swear to God a bill,

861
00:41:29,040 --> 00:41:32,440
Speaker 2: as Time magazine put it, and I quote. Kelly apparently

862
00:41:32,560 --> 00:41:34,960
Speaker 2: learned of the available cash from a chain starting with

863
00:41:35,000 --> 00:41:37,759
Speaker 2: a convicted stock swindler and leading through an accountant and

864
00:41:37,800 --> 00:41:40,520
Speaker 2: an East Coast mobster, all three of whom had expected

865
00:41:40,560 --> 00:41:44,360
Speaker 2: to acquire fifty thousand each from Shay Kabebe. Only Kelly, however,

866
00:41:44,440 --> 00:41:47,520
Speaker 2: received a delivery. The cameras in the w Street house

867
00:41:47,719 --> 00:41:50,640
Speaker 2: caught him stuffing twenty five thousand dollars, two hundred and

868
00:41:50,640 --> 00:41:52,920
Speaker 2: one hundred dollar bills and two hundred and fifty twenty

869
00:41:52,920 --> 00:41:56,000
Speaker 2: dollars bills into his suit coat and pants pockets, and

870
00:41:56,040 --> 00:41:57,640
Speaker 2: then asking does it show?

871
00:41:58,040 --> 00:42:04,600
Speaker 3: Oh, are you kidding me? So it's so low just

872
00:42:04,640 --> 00:42:06,000
Speaker 3: shoving it in your pocket?

873
00:42:07,160 --> 00:42:11,160
Speaker 2: And why in every pocket you got your jackets bulging

874
00:42:11,239 --> 00:42:13,319
Speaker 2: your pants pocket? How does my butt look?

875
00:42:14,239 --> 00:42:16,680
Speaker 3: Here's about it from different criminals.

876
00:42:16,760 --> 00:42:18,040
Speaker 2: It goes running over for it.

877
00:42:18,280 --> 00:42:19,800
Speaker 3: Yeah, but it's like it's not just like oh I

878
00:42:20,120 --> 00:42:22,239
Speaker 3: got wind of it from one dee. Oh yeah, No,

879
00:42:22,440 --> 00:42:25,040
Speaker 3: like multiple criminals that he knows.

880
00:42:25,320 --> 00:42:29,640
Speaker 2: Yeah, huh. So watching these congressmen line up like little

881
00:42:29,640 --> 00:42:33,319
Speaker 2: piggies at the trock exactly, FBI agents are astounded. They're like,

882
00:42:33,360 --> 00:42:36,799
Speaker 2: we thought Watergate was bad, so there's one FBI agent

883
00:42:36,800 --> 00:42:40,040
Speaker 2: put it later on quote, we found people climbing all

884
00:42:40,200 --> 00:42:42,160
Speaker 2: over each other to get some of the action. We

885
00:42:42,160 --> 00:42:46,880
Speaker 2: were mystified. So they're just gaps and gobsmacked by this, right, Elizabeth.

886
00:42:46,920 --> 00:42:49,400
Speaker 2: The FBI guy guys had made so many deals for

887
00:42:49,480 --> 00:42:51,800
Speaker 2: so many payoffs that they ran out of bribe money

888
00:42:52,040 --> 00:42:53,680
Speaker 2: and they had to go back to the FBI for more.

889
00:42:53,719 --> 00:42:55,520
Speaker 2: Like we're gonna need some more bribe money to pay

890
00:42:55,520 --> 00:42:56,160
Speaker 2: off these people.

891
00:42:56,239 --> 00:42:57,319
Speaker 3: Don't worry, we'll get it back.

892
00:42:57,360 --> 00:42:59,200
Speaker 2: At this point, the FBI bosses are like, wait, what's

893
00:42:59,239 --> 00:43:02,120
Speaker 2: going on with this operation? We got all these senators

894
00:43:02,160 --> 00:43:04,400
Speaker 2: and congressmen. We're giving a briefcases of cash with a

895
00:43:04,400 --> 00:43:07,080
Speaker 2: fake shake, Like wait, whoa, whoa. We really should have

896
00:43:07,080 --> 00:43:09,840
Speaker 2: been doing a little more oversights. So the FBI is like,

897
00:43:10,480 --> 00:43:12,560
Speaker 2: we're gonna have to shut this down. So they go

898
00:43:12,600 --> 00:43:13,879
Speaker 2: and they turn off the money hose.

899
00:43:13,960 --> 00:43:14,160
Speaker 4: Right.

900
00:43:14,520 --> 00:43:17,520
Speaker 2: So, all in all, the FBI's undercover investigation last twenty

901
00:43:17,600 --> 00:43:21,040
Speaker 2: three months. One hundred FBI agents work on it. Over

902
00:43:21,080 --> 00:43:23,799
Speaker 2: the two year long operation, it cost roughly eight hundred

903
00:43:23,840 --> 00:43:26,920
Speaker 2: thousand dollars in total. There was one other reason why

904
00:43:27,000 --> 00:43:30,720
Speaker 2: the FBI chose to shut down abscam. Your point about

905
00:43:30,719 --> 00:43:33,480
Speaker 2: the word was spreading. The press learned about the fake shakes.

906
00:43:33,880 --> 00:43:36,280
Speaker 2: The corrupt congressmen are all lining up for the bribes,

907
00:43:36,360 --> 00:43:38,400
Speaker 2: so they actually find out where the house is, and

908
00:43:38,400 --> 00:43:40,600
Speaker 2: the press starts to get in the way because reporters

909
00:43:40,600 --> 00:43:45,799
Speaker 2: starts surveiling the FBI's surveillance teams. For instance, reporters from

910
00:43:45,960 --> 00:43:49,880
Speaker 2: NBCTV they had not one, but two Winnebago vans that

911
00:43:49,960 --> 00:43:53,520
Speaker 2: they parked near the FBI's fake shake and trapman house

912
00:43:53,560 --> 00:43:56,080
Speaker 2: on W Street. So there you have the FBI truck

913
00:43:56,080 --> 00:43:58,880
Speaker 2: and then like five cars down as a Winnebago watching

914
00:43:58,880 --> 00:43:59,640
Speaker 2: the FBI truck.

915
00:44:00,160 --> 00:44:02,440
Speaker 3: Did the news so the news knew that it was

916
00:44:02,480 --> 00:44:05,520
Speaker 3: the FBI or did they think, No, there's these crooked They.

917
00:44:05,360 --> 00:44:07,560
Speaker 2: Think it's I think because there's a crooked shake, who's

918
00:44:07,560 --> 00:44:08,480
Speaker 2: buying Congressman?

919
00:44:08,920 --> 00:44:12,880
Speaker 3: Think this investigative news team is going to bring down exactly?

920
00:44:12,960 --> 00:44:15,440
Speaker 2: Then they and then they noticed that there's that somebody

921
00:44:15,440 --> 00:44:17,520
Speaker 2: else is watching and then not the press to get there.

922
00:44:17,600 --> 00:44:19,360
Speaker 2: Oh they're gonna they're gonna beat us on the story.

923
00:44:19,400 --> 00:44:22,040
Speaker 2: They're like, oh wait, those are not reporters. Those guys

924
00:44:22,040 --> 00:44:25,560
Speaker 2: look like yeah, exactly. So then from their surveillance vans,

925
00:44:25,680 --> 00:44:28,239
Speaker 2: NBC tries to film whoever goes in and out of

926
00:44:28,280 --> 00:44:31,440
Speaker 2: the super Bright house. Right, But the windows, by the way,

927
00:44:31,480 --> 00:44:33,320
Speaker 2: are also always draped, and when the drape, when the

928
00:44:33,400 --> 00:44:36,120
Speaker 2: drapes are slightly removed for a moment, the windows are tinted,

929
00:44:36,120 --> 00:44:37,759
Speaker 2: so they can't film anything in. They can only get

930
00:44:37,800 --> 00:44:39,240
Speaker 2: people coming in and out of the house.

931
00:44:39,320 --> 00:44:39,520
Speaker 4: Right.

932
00:44:39,800 --> 00:44:43,200
Speaker 2: It's also buying you wintertime in Washington, DC, back when

933
00:44:43,239 --> 00:44:45,560
Speaker 2: that actually mattered. It was a cold winter. There was

934
00:44:45,600 --> 00:44:48,680
Speaker 2: snow and terrible weather. NBC reporter, they're on steak out.

935
00:44:48,719 --> 00:44:51,279
Speaker 2: Their orange juice is freezing in their truck. For two

936
00:44:51,320 --> 00:44:55,200
Speaker 2: months they watched the FBI's undercover operation, not knowing fully

937
00:44:55,200 --> 00:44:56,799
Speaker 2: that it was the FBI. Eventually they figure it out.

938
00:44:56,800 --> 00:45:00,279
Speaker 2: But meanwhile, the neighbors noticed these two suspicious winnibeg goes

939
00:45:00,280 --> 00:45:03,439
Speaker 2: and they phone the police on NBC. So the DC

940
00:45:03,640 --> 00:45:06,440
Speaker 2: cops they show up to investigate, and the reporters they're like,

941
00:45:06,760 --> 00:45:08,239
Speaker 2: so we need you to step out of the winnebago.

942
00:45:08,320 --> 00:45:11,560
Speaker 2: The reporter's like, go go away, go, don't stop, get away.

943
00:45:11,760 --> 00:45:13,400
Speaker 2: The cops like, seriously, you need you out. They're like,

944
00:45:13,400 --> 00:45:16,400
Speaker 2: we're with NBC. They're like, what do you stop whispering?

945
00:45:16,400 --> 00:45:19,640
Speaker 2: Where shit? Don't look go away right. They eventually show

946
00:45:19,719 --> 00:45:22,280
Speaker 2: the cops away by telling them, getting upset and saying,

947
00:45:22,480 --> 00:45:25,200
Speaker 2: what's the matter with you guys, You're screwing up our investigation.

948
00:45:25,880 --> 00:45:27,239
Speaker 2: So the cops are like, oh, sorry about that, and

949
00:45:27,239 --> 00:45:29,799
Speaker 2: they'll wait. Now. Around the same time, the FBI has

950
00:45:29,840 --> 00:45:32,440
Speaker 2: decided it's time to shut down the fake shake operations.

951
00:45:32,480 --> 00:45:36,279
Speaker 2: And bring some charges. So Saturday February second, soon enough,

952
00:45:36,360 --> 00:45:39,760
Speaker 2: the story now breaks because everybody's ohay, and the sting

953
00:45:39,880 --> 00:45:42,440
Speaker 2: hits the fan. And by that I mean the headlines

954
00:45:42,480 --> 00:45:46,360
Speaker 2: and we're talking big crazy headlines like Watergate level. They're like,

955
00:45:46,400 --> 00:45:49,080
Speaker 2: oh my god, government corruption at the highest level, Senator

956
00:45:49,200 --> 00:45:52,319
Speaker 2: by Shakes, it's just insane. And also then there's the

957
00:45:52,320 --> 00:45:55,240
Speaker 2: whole foreigner racism part of like, our government's being corrupted

958
00:45:55,239 --> 00:45:58,520
Speaker 2: by outside influences of oil money, blah blah, the people

959
00:45:58,560 --> 00:46:00,960
Speaker 2: who've just punished us with So it's like you're on

960
00:46:01,000 --> 00:46:03,520
Speaker 2: the side of the villains or whatever. So this is whole,

961
00:46:03,640 --> 00:46:05,680
Speaker 2: like what's going on. Everyone's trying to get to the

962
00:46:05,680 --> 00:46:08,720
Speaker 2: bottom of this, And then it goes to the court rooms.

963
00:46:09,360 --> 00:46:12,759
Speaker 2: In court under oath, testimony reveals the inner workings of

964
00:46:12,840 --> 00:46:16,920
Speaker 2: power politics in the late seventies, Grand jury hearings, Senate

965
00:46:16,960 --> 00:46:21,480
Speaker 2: committee hearings, courtroom trials. The trials they started in nineteen eighty.

966
00:46:21,600 --> 00:46:24,320
Speaker 2: In total, eight defendants were put on dockets in federal

967
00:46:24,400 --> 00:46:28,120
Speaker 2: courts in Brooklyn, Washington, d C. And Philadelphia. The full list,

968
00:46:28,160 --> 00:46:30,960
Speaker 2: if you're keeping track, was Senator Harrison Pete Williams of

969
00:46:30,960 --> 00:46:35,000
Speaker 2: New Jersey Congressman Raymond Larder and Michael Ozzy Myers of Pennsylvania,

970
00:46:35,400 --> 00:46:39,120
Speaker 2: Representative John Jenrett of South Carolina, Reped Frank Thompson of

971
00:46:39,160 --> 00:46:42,440
Speaker 2: New Jersey, Representative John Murphy of New York, and finally,

972
00:46:42,480 --> 00:46:45,719
Speaker 2: Representative Richard Kelly of Florida. All of the senators in

973
00:46:45,760 --> 00:46:48,360
Speaker 2: congressmen caught in the staying were Democrats except for Kelly

974
00:46:48,360 --> 00:46:52,160
Speaker 2: of Florida and Presler of South Dakota. Washington Posts though

975
00:46:52,280 --> 00:46:55,760
Speaker 2: they loved Presler much like you had the reaction of like, oh, yeah,

976
00:46:55,880 --> 00:46:58,719
Speaker 2: somebody finally said no, at least like I can't do

977
00:46:58,800 --> 00:47:02,800
Speaker 2: this like that. Yeah, So they described his experience. Pressler's

978
00:47:02,800 --> 00:47:05,440
Speaker 2: experience with the fake shake as a moment of principled

979
00:47:05,520 --> 00:47:08,480
Speaker 2: defiance on the front page. Mind you, it was not

980
00:47:08,600 --> 00:47:11,360
Speaker 2: exactly that, but either way, as the Washington Post reported

981
00:47:11,400 --> 00:47:15,160
Speaker 2: and I quote preserved among the videotape footage that may

982
00:47:15,239 --> 00:47:18,240
Speaker 2: be used as bribery evidence against a number of members

983
00:47:18,239 --> 00:47:21,400
Speaker 2: of Congress, there is a special moment in which Senator

984
00:47:21,520 --> 00:47:24,840
Speaker 2: Larry Presler, Republican of South Dakota, tells the undercover agents,

985
00:47:25,080 --> 00:47:28,800
Speaker 2: in effect, to take their sting and stick it. Presler,

986
00:47:28,840 --> 00:47:31,600
Speaker 2: according to law enforcement sources was the one approached member

987
00:47:31,640 --> 00:47:34,920
Speaker 2: of Congress who flatly refused to consider financial favors in

988
00:47:34,960 --> 00:47:39,040
Speaker 2: exchange for legislative favors, as suggested by undercover agents posing

989
00:47:39,080 --> 00:47:41,719
Speaker 2: as Arabs. At the time, he said he was not

990
00:47:41,800 --> 00:47:44,680
Speaker 2: aware that he was doing anything quite so heroic.

991
00:47:46,200 --> 00:47:47,640
Speaker 3: He had a precious moment.

992
00:47:47,600 --> 00:47:51,520
Speaker 2: Saying no to being like a corrupt congressman. Way to

993
00:47:51,520 --> 00:47:59,480
Speaker 2: be heroic. S just amazing, missus eighty I mean, like

994
00:47:59,520 --> 00:48:02,160
Speaker 2: the bar was lowered Vans. Yeah, where is it now?

995
00:48:02,840 --> 00:48:04,080
Speaker 3: Anyway, there is no bar.

996
00:48:04,400 --> 00:48:05,719
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's just what I'm telling you. It's just a

997
00:48:05,800 --> 00:48:08,399
Speaker 2: valley and you roll into it and roll out of it.

998
00:48:08,719 --> 00:48:11,000
Speaker 2: In the end, all eight who were indicted were convicted

999
00:48:11,000 --> 00:48:13,799
Speaker 2: of bribery conspiracy. In eighty one and in eighty one

1000
00:48:13,880 --> 00:48:17,400
Speaker 2: Congressman Ozzie Myers he justifies his guilt in this great interview.

1001
00:48:17,840 --> 00:48:20,279
Speaker 2: He talks about his acceptance of the payoff from the

1002
00:48:20,320 --> 00:48:23,480
Speaker 2: fake FBI Shakes and Meers said, and I quote, I

1003
00:48:23,520 --> 00:48:26,240
Speaker 2: took money because I like money. I feel I didn't

1004
00:48:26,239 --> 00:48:28,600
Speaker 2: do anything wrong, and if anybody offers me twenty five

1005
00:48:28,640 --> 00:48:32,760
Speaker 2: thousand dollars this afternoon, I will take it like money.

1006
00:48:32,920 --> 00:48:35,919
Speaker 2: I love money. I like money problem. I love the money.

1007
00:48:36,719 --> 00:48:39,480
Speaker 2: Money so hard not to lack a criminal who just

1008
00:48:39,520 --> 00:48:42,839
Speaker 2: admits who he is. Right, Even the FBI guys they

1009
00:48:42,960 --> 00:48:45,520
Speaker 2: liked this. Congressman John F. Good, the leader of the operation.

1010
00:48:45,680 --> 00:48:49,600
Speaker 2: He said Ozzie was one of my favorite guys. Now,

1011
00:48:49,600 --> 00:48:53,680
Speaker 2: I should point out that neither Senator Larry Presler or Rep.

1012
00:48:53,800 --> 00:48:56,239
Speaker 2: John Murtha uill See also gets mentioned in the story

1013
00:48:56,239 --> 00:48:58,800
Speaker 2: where ever indicted because neither man promised to do anything

1014
00:48:58,840 --> 00:49:01,239
Speaker 2: even though they were approached, or and neither man took

1015
00:49:01,239 --> 00:49:03,040
Speaker 2: any of the money offered to them even though they

1016
00:49:03,080 --> 00:49:07,000
Speaker 2: were at least in Mirtha's case, recorded saying he would, yeah, Elizabeth.

1017
00:49:07,000 --> 00:49:08,920
Speaker 2: The weird thing about abscam is how it led to

1018
00:49:08,960 --> 00:49:13,000
Speaker 2: this surprise backlash. For one, there's the name abscam. When

1019
00:49:13,040 --> 00:49:15,880
Speaker 2: the news of FBI's undercover operation breaks, right the authorities,

1020
00:49:15,960 --> 00:49:20,000
Speaker 2: they tell the press that abscam is short for arab scam,

1021
00:49:20,239 --> 00:49:23,320
Speaker 2: so it's not far off, but it's not accurate. Right. Eventually,

1022
00:49:23,360 --> 00:49:26,479
Speaker 2: after the Arab American Relations Committee makes a stink about

1023
00:49:26,520 --> 00:49:29,200
Speaker 2: it and says like, what this is offensive? How could

1024
00:49:29,280 --> 00:49:33,920
Speaker 2: you name a government operation arab scam? And they're like, well, no, no, no, sorry, sorry,

1025
00:49:33,920 --> 00:49:37,040
Speaker 2: it was abdual scam. They're like, that's not much better,

1026
00:49:37,640 --> 00:49:39,800
Speaker 2: but anyway, So at this point a federal judge clears

1027
00:49:39,800 --> 00:49:41,439
Speaker 2: it up and tells them you, no, no, it's abdol scam.

1028
00:49:41,480 --> 00:49:43,399
Speaker 2: It's fine, guys, and everyone's like all right. So they

1029
00:49:43,440 --> 00:49:46,640
Speaker 2: move on to the fact that, you know, aside from

1030
00:49:47,000 --> 00:49:49,560
Speaker 2: both judge points out there's no there was no racial

1031
00:49:49,600 --> 00:49:52,080
Speaker 2: bias in any of the charges, like I don't know,

1032
00:49:52,160 --> 00:49:55,400
Speaker 2: it's like like whatever. So the FBI, know, though, is

1033
00:49:55,440 --> 00:49:58,360
Speaker 2: now in trouble because they've targeted members of US Congress

1034
00:49:58,400 --> 00:50:01,360
Speaker 2: in a free ranging sting operation that was essentially a

1035
00:50:01,400 --> 00:50:04,080
Speaker 2: fishing expedition. So you know there's going to be a

1036
00:50:04,080 --> 00:50:06,319
Speaker 2: bad reaction when your boss finds out that you've been

1037
00:50:06,360 --> 00:50:09,520
Speaker 2: following home at work, Right, Elizabeth, there was definitely a

1038
00:50:09,520 --> 00:50:12,240
Speaker 2: bad reaction. Even the public was offended by the FBI.

1039
00:50:12,400 --> 00:50:15,279
Speaker 2: They're like, why would you you hired this career swindler,

1040
00:50:15,480 --> 00:50:17,479
Speaker 2: You put them on the payroll, you make us pay

1041
00:50:17,480 --> 00:50:20,879
Speaker 2: his salary as taxpayers. Then you create these two fake

1042
00:50:21,000 --> 00:50:23,400
Speaker 2: shakes for the FBI to play dress up with, and

1043
00:50:23,440 --> 00:50:26,440
Speaker 2: then they go around in trapping sitting senators. In a

1044
00:50:26,480 --> 00:50:29,279
Speaker 2: post Watergate world, it was not a good look. So

1045
00:50:29,400 --> 00:50:31,560
Speaker 2: Mini felt it was what folks in the legal industry

1046
00:50:31,560 --> 00:50:35,440
Speaker 2: call entrapment. And they weren't far off. US Congress decided

1047
00:50:35,480 --> 00:50:38,279
Speaker 2: to retaliate, so they open up hearings. They're like, we're

1048
00:50:38,280 --> 00:50:41,200
Speaker 2: gonna watergate these hearings. So they make everyone tries to

1049
00:50:41,239 --> 00:50:44,319
Speaker 2: grand stand, right, So inter Senator Alan K. Simpson, the

1050
00:50:44,320 --> 00:50:46,759
Speaker 2: Republican from Wyoming, when it came time for him to

1051
00:50:46,760 --> 00:50:49,839
Speaker 2: speak in the hearings, he's grilling the FBI officials. He's

1052
00:50:49,880 --> 00:50:52,400
Speaker 2: accusing the g men of all sorts of inappropriate He

1053
00:50:52,440 --> 00:50:54,759
Speaker 2: even tells them, I think you guys are giddy because

1054
00:50:54,880 --> 00:50:57,440
Speaker 2: when they realized that they had some congressmen on the line,

1055
00:50:57,520 --> 00:51:00,000
Speaker 2: well sure, and by on the line, this guy's from

1056
00:51:00,000 --> 00:51:02,760
Speaker 2: I'm like Wyoming. So he goes full fishing metaphors tender.

1057
00:51:02,800 --> 00:51:05,640
Speaker 2: Simpson says, and I quote, you had so many hooks

1058
00:51:05,640 --> 00:51:09,120
Speaker 2: in and had landed so many lunkers. Did you just

1059
00:51:09,200 --> 00:51:11,680
Speaker 2: decided here you'd fish on into the night?

1060
00:51:12,200 --> 00:51:15,719
Speaker 3: Oh boy, he's with.

1061
00:51:16,040 --> 00:51:18,480
Speaker 2: Just his hat. Old John F. Good, our head of

1062
00:51:18,520 --> 00:51:21,640
Speaker 2: the FBI operation. He defends his men and his operation

1063
00:51:22,200 --> 00:51:24,240
Speaker 2: at the Senate hearings, and he says, and I quote,

1064
00:51:24,719 --> 00:51:27,680
Speaker 2: if we were real crooks out there looking to bribe congressmen,

1065
00:51:27,680 --> 00:51:29,480
Speaker 2: and somebody came to us and said, look, I got

1066
00:51:29,480 --> 00:51:31,360
Speaker 2: a better fish for you. How can you say no,

1067
00:51:31,760 --> 00:51:34,160
Speaker 2: I don't need him. Yeah, which is a fair point.

1068
00:51:34,200 --> 00:51:34,319
Speaker 3: Right.

1069
00:51:34,480 --> 00:51:36,560
Speaker 2: The hearings go on like this, back and forth. They

1070
00:51:36,560 --> 00:51:40,160
Speaker 2: create this spectacle with these hearings intended to embarrass the FBI,

1071
00:51:40,400 --> 00:51:43,719
Speaker 2: but also into getting the FBI to never investigate Congress again, Like,

1072
00:51:43,719 --> 00:51:46,080
Speaker 2: don't you dare do that again? That was the real message, right,

1073
00:51:46,400 --> 00:51:49,160
Speaker 2: So they started they delayed FBI appointments. Congress was like,

1074
00:51:49,239 --> 00:51:51,680
Speaker 2: really screwing the FBI. And they did all this just

1075
00:51:51,719 --> 00:51:54,080
Speaker 2: to punish the g men, right, So they're left looking silly,

1076
00:51:54,239 --> 00:51:56,640
Speaker 2: much like the CIA after the Church Committee hearings where

1077
00:51:56,640 --> 00:51:58,680
Speaker 2: they're holding up like the heart attack gun, they're like

1078
00:51:58,719 --> 00:52:00,839
Speaker 2: what is that? CI is like, oh man, that looks

1079
00:52:00,880 --> 00:52:03,719
Speaker 2: bad here. So they're like, you know, the FBI is

1080
00:52:03,760 --> 00:52:05,640
Speaker 2: like trying to like you know, get right in the

1081
00:52:05,640 --> 00:52:08,839
Speaker 2: public's eye. Then this eight hundred page report drops, Right,

1082
00:52:08,880 --> 00:52:10,680
Speaker 2: I found the whole thing. I didn't read the whole thing,

1083
00:52:10,719 --> 00:52:12,959
Speaker 2: but I read the good parts. Those eight hundred pages.

1084
00:52:13,000 --> 00:52:15,040
Speaker 2: They're all generated by these committee hearings and this just

1085
00:52:15,040 --> 00:52:17,880
Speaker 2: filled with crazy quotes, right, But in the end, Congress

1086
00:52:17,880 --> 00:52:21,320
Speaker 2: makes the Attorney General revise the protocols for the FBI's

1087
00:52:21,400 --> 00:52:24,520
Speaker 2: undercover operations, like we want to see it, right, because

1088
00:52:24,560 --> 00:52:25,839
Speaker 2: Congress they're big mad.

1089
00:52:25,960 --> 00:52:26,120
Speaker 4: Right.

1090
00:52:26,160 --> 00:52:28,879
Speaker 2: So in the Congressional committee hearings, it had come out

1091
00:52:28,920 --> 00:52:32,320
Speaker 2: that Weinberg had been personally benefiting from his work picking

1092
00:52:32,360 --> 00:52:33,400
Speaker 2: targets for the FBI.

1093
00:52:33,680 --> 00:52:33,960
Speaker 3: Yeah.

1094
00:52:34,000 --> 00:52:36,120
Speaker 2: That was bad. Yeah, and then so they got this

1095
00:52:36,160 --> 00:52:38,680
Speaker 2: professional swindler who's now a professional swindler for the FBI.

1096
00:52:38,680 --> 00:52:41,000
Speaker 2: And it's like they're like, let's not justice. Basically what

1097
00:52:41,040 --> 00:52:43,279
Speaker 2: we said earlier about the undercover cops. Yeah, once you're

1098
00:52:43,320 --> 00:52:44,520
Speaker 2: doing crime, you're no longer.

1099
00:52:44,680 --> 00:52:44,919
Speaker 3: Yeah.

1100
00:52:45,000 --> 00:52:49,080
Speaker 2: Anyway, as this eight hundred page Congressional report details exhaustively,

1101
00:52:49,480 --> 00:52:52,560
Speaker 2: mel Weinberg are swindler. He also had received all kinds

1102
00:52:52,560 --> 00:52:56,120
Speaker 2: of goodies along the way, not like money or cash favors,

1103
00:52:56,160 --> 00:52:59,120
Speaker 2: literal stuff like he I got a list here and

1104
00:52:59,239 --> 00:53:03,360
Speaker 2: I quote a General Electric microwave oven, a stereo system

1105
00:53:03,360 --> 00:53:08,240
Speaker 2: which included Harmon Cardon's receiver, two Genesis speakers, other components. Also,

1106
00:53:08,280 --> 00:53:11,920
Speaker 2: he received three Sony Trinitan color television sets and a

1107
00:53:11,960 --> 00:53:15,440
Speaker 2: Sody Beta Max video cassette recorder dudes basically opening his

1108
00:53:15,440 --> 00:53:16,319
Speaker 2: own electronics store.

1109
00:53:16,320 --> 00:53:18,000
Speaker 3: We're going to say, like a roll X.

1110
00:53:19,280 --> 00:53:22,440
Speaker 2: He wanted toys he wanted basically like he wanted to

1111
00:53:22,480 --> 00:53:24,319
Speaker 2: go on like price is right to go shopping, and

1112
00:53:24,360 --> 00:53:26,319
Speaker 2: he's like, oh, well, I'll take the Beta Max, I'll

1113
00:53:26,360 --> 00:53:29,840
Speaker 2: take the triniton color sets. So as the gradtional report

1114
00:53:29,920 --> 00:53:33,320
Speaker 2: took great pains to note, and I quote, Weinberg failed

1115
00:53:33,320 --> 00:53:36,239
Speaker 2: to disclose to the FBI his solicitation or receipt of

1116
00:53:36,280 --> 00:53:38,880
Speaker 2: these gifts, and when confront it, falsely denied to government

1117
00:53:38,920 --> 00:53:41,279
Speaker 2: attorneys and agents that he had solicited or received them.

1118
00:53:41,440 --> 00:53:44,600
Speaker 2: Presco's nuts about this. You've got his pip swindler working

1119
00:53:44,640 --> 00:53:48,160
Speaker 2: for the FBI. Oops, looks like the FBI's undercover criminal

1120
00:53:48,239 --> 00:53:51,279
Speaker 2: was doing undercover crimes. So the thing was, Weinberg had

1121
00:53:51,320 --> 00:53:53,680
Speaker 2: been largely left on his own, much like we'd heard

1122
00:53:53,719 --> 00:53:56,480
Speaker 2: about in the previous episode with undercover cops. There wasn't

1123
00:53:56,560 --> 00:53:59,120
Speaker 2: much overset, so he wasn't He wasn't even given much

1124
00:53:59,120 --> 00:54:02,000
Speaker 2: field assistance. He had the FBI agents the two fake shakes,

1125
00:54:02,040 --> 00:54:03,960
Speaker 2: but he had to supply his own tape recorder for

1126
00:54:04,000 --> 00:54:04,760
Speaker 2: the FBI sting.

1127
00:54:04,880 --> 00:54:06,280
Speaker 3: Are you serious quote.

1128
00:54:06,320 --> 00:54:08,560
Speaker 2: Weinberg has testified that in nineteen seventy eight he'd been

1129
00:54:08,600 --> 00:54:10,799
Speaker 2: using only his own tape recorder, which he continued to

1130
00:54:10,840 --> 00:54:13,279
Speaker 2: use throughout the investigation, and that the FBI did not

1131
00:54:13,320 --> 00:54:16,759
Speaker 2: supply any tape recorder until approximately March nineteen seventy nine.

1132
00:54:17,600 --> 00:54:19,279
Speaker 2: So once the press and the public here about this,

1133
00:54:19,320 --> 00:54:21,600
Speaker 2: the FBI is like, you know, short shifting their agents.

1134
00:54:21,600 --> 00:54:25,080
Speaker 2: They're like, you haven't been doing on spec So he's

1135
00:54:25,200 --> 00:54:27,479
Speaker 2: entering all these crimes and spying like he's a dollar

1136
00:54:27,480 --> 00:54:30,160
Speaker 2: store James Bond. The FBI looks super foolish, right, So

1137
00:54:30,320 --> 00:54:32,520
Speaker 2: in the wake of abscam, the Attorney General and the

1138
00:54:32,560 --> 00:54:35,600
Speaker 2: DOJ they sit down and they update the policies on

1139
00:54:35,719 --> 00:54:40,920
Speaker 2: undercover informants not agents. Informants. They can no longer have

1140
00:54:41,040 --> 00:54:43,600
Speaker 2: the they have to have more authorization and oversight. So

1141
00:54:43,640 --> 00:54:46,200
Speaker 2: that's where the change is. But as we covered the

1142
00:54:46,280 --> 00:54:49,360
Speaker 2: Undercover Cops episode, the FBI did not extend that to

1143
00:54:49,440 --> 00:54:51,360
Speaker 2: their agents, like, no, they have to be able to

1144
00:54:51,360 --> 00:54:54,400
Speaker 2: do crimes. So, Elizabeth, I'd like to draw your attention

1145
00:54:54,440 --> 00:54:57,560
Speaker 2: to this document from the DOJ's archive, Chapter four, the

1146
00:54:57,560 --> 00:55:01,840
Speaker 2: Attorney General's guideline on FBI to cover operations, and I quote,

1147
00:55:02,120 --> 00:55:04,919
Speaker 2: in contrast to the mini compliance of deficiencies we found

1148
00:55:04,960 --> 00:55:07,880
Speaker 2: in the Criminal Informant program, our examination of the FBI

1149
00:55:07,960 --> 00:55:12,040
Speaker 2: is undercover operations identified comparatively few instances of non compliance

1150
00:55:12,040 --> 00:55:14,960
Speaker 2: with the undercover guidelines. In other words, we performed an

1151
00:55:15,000 --> 00:55:17,120
Speaker 2: investigation of ourselves and we found we're good.

1152
00:55:17,840 --> 00:55:21,000
Speaker 5: Basically, no problems here, guys, it's all yeah, move on.

1153
00:55:22,040 --> 00:55:25,080
Speaker 2: So all those darn seies, what can you tell me? Criminals?

1154
00:55:25,120 --> 00:55:27,640
Speaker 2: What are you gonna do under control? No, it's the

1155
00:55:27,680 --> 00:55:30,600
Speaker 2: business we're in. So they put it. They drew a

1156
00:55:30,640 --> 00:55:32,480
Speaker 2: line between them and the criminals they worked with, and

1157
00:55:32,480 --> 00:55:34,800
Speaker 2: the said, everyone happy. And that's the last time pretty

1158
00:55:34,840 --> 00:55:37,080
Speaker 2: much they did anything. Ye abscan was when the FBI

1159
00:55:37,160 --> 00:55:40,120
Speaker 2: realized they could no longer partner with criminals and do crimes,

1160
00:55:40,280 --> 00:55:43,640
Speaker 2: no matter how much fun it was for everyone involved. Solizabeth,

1161
00:55:43,680 --> 00:55:45,000
Speaker 2: what's our ridiculous takeaway here?

1162
00:55:45,120 --> 00:55:48,160
Speaker 3: Oh my goodness, I'm torn that there's a part of

1163
00:55:48,200 --> 00:55:50,600
Speaker 3: me that thinks, you know what, Like, I have no

1164
00:55:50,680 --> 00:55:53,560
Speaker 3: idea why Congress would get so upset if it's obvious

1165
00:55:53,600 --> 00:55:56,680
Speaker 3: that the slightest little tidbit thrown out there. It's like

1166
00:55:56,960 --> 00:55:59,239
Speaker 3: when you go to a pond that's full of like

1167
00:55:59,400 --> 00:56:01,480
Speaker 3: hoy that are used to being fed a lot and

1168
00:56:01,640 --> 00:56:04,879
Speaker 3: throws some food in and they all it's not like, oh,

1169
00:56:04,880 --> 00:56:05,719
Speaker 3: this is the first time this.

1170
00:56:06,239 --> 00:56:08,040
Speaker 2: Happened some well trained congressman.

1171
00:56:08,160 --> 00:56:10,319
Speaker 3: Yeah, they're like, all right, I know this lady's gonna

1172
00:56:10,360 --> 00:56:11,440
Speaker 3: keep throwing stuff out there.

1173
00:56:11,480 --> 00:56:13,080
Speaker 2: You see that shadow move across the wad.

1174
00:56:13,560 --> 00:56:15,440
Speaker 3: But it's the same time I can see where it's like,

1175
00:56:15,480 --> 00:56:17,440
Speaker 3: you don't want to have pay a criminal to go

1176
00:56:17,520 --> 00:56:20,880
Speaker 3: and hustle some of this up. But yeah, shameful. The

1177
00:56:20,920 --> 00:56:22,600
Speaker 3: whole thing is shameful in every way.

1178
00:56:22,600 --> 00:56:24,960
Speaker 2: And now you know, I love Miami vice as much

1179
00:56:24,960 --> 00:56:27,440
Speaker 2: as the next like har cor criminal who likes go

1180
00:56:27,560 --> 00:56:29,800
Speaker 2: fast boats. But if you're going to try to like

1181
00:56:29,880 --> 00:56:32,120
Speaker 2: crock it in tubs with the bad guys, you can't

1182
00:56:32,160 --> 00:56:34,960
Speaker 2: have them planning the crimes. That's my That's where I

1183
00:56:35,040 --> 00:56:37,080
Speaker 2: draw the lot, like it should be the criminal's idea.

1184
00:56:37,280 --> 00:56:39,000
Speaker 2: The crime should still be the criminals that you can

1185
00:56:39,040 --> 00:56:40,640
Speaker 2: do the crime with them, as long as their idea

1186
00:56:40,719 --> 00:56:44,320
Speaker 2: can't be your. That was the entrapment that your takeaway.

1187
00:56:44,400 --> 00:56:46,480
Speaker 2: I'm old school, Elizabeth. I think crime is crime, and

1188
00:56:46,520 --> 00:56:51,120
Speaker 2: even if it's an undercover FBI agent doing it anyway. Takeaway.

1189
00:56:51,160 --> 00:56:53,000
Speaker 3: See I came back around to confirm it.

1190
00:56:53,080 --> 00:56:55,399
Speaker 2: I like that instead of asking, I'm not going.

1191
00:56:55,320 --> 00:56:57,560
Speaker 3: To I'm going to lift you up at the end

1192
00:56:57,640 --> 00:56:59,160
Speaker 3: and celebrate you help.

1193
00:56:59,320 --> 00:57:01,280
Speaker 2: I know you. Should you ready for talkback?

1194
00:57:01,680 --> 00:57:01,919
Speaker 4: Yes?

1195
00:57:01,960 --> 00:57:02,280
Speaker 3: Please?

1196
00:57:02,360 --> 00:57:05,440
Speaker 2: Pretty? Can you favor us with a talkbag?

1197
00:57:09,640 --> 00:57:15,040
Speaker 4: Oh my god, Siver, I lent geet.

1198
00:57:18,520 --> 00:57:20,640
Speaker 6: Hey, guys, this is Kurrill for MAUI and I'm going

1199
00:57:20,680 --> 00:57:23,120
Speaker 6: to do the arithmetic on the four hundred and fifty

1200
00:57:23,120 --> 00:57:27,160
Speaker 6: thousand rupees that Natwirrel stole in nineteen thirty seven. In

1201
00:57:27,240 --> 00:57:30,800
Speaker 6: nineteen thirty seven, one dollar was worth two point seven rupees,

1202
00:57:31,120 --> 00:57:34,120
Speaker 6: making the entire haul worth one hundred and sixty five

1203
00:57:34,240 --> 00:57:38,800
Speaker 6: thousand dollars. One dollar in nineteen thirty seven is worth

1204
00:57:38,880 --> 00:57:42,240
Speaker 6: twenty one point eighty one dollars in twenty twenty four,

1205
00:57:42,520 --> 00:57:45,600
Speaker 6: making one hundred and sixty five thousand dollars worth three

1206
00:57:45,680 --> 00:57:46,920
Speaker 6: point six million.

1207
00:57:48,160 --> 00:57:50,080
Speaker 4: Yang, Thank you.

1208
00:57:50,240 --> 00:57:51,760
Speaker 3: So much for doing the math.

1209
00:57:52,120 --> 00:57:54,920
Speaker 2: I always appreciate that I didn't do that this episode,

1210
00:57:54,920 --> 00:57:56,520
Speaker 2: just to keep her like wanting.

1211
00:57:56,280 --> 00:57:57,560
Speaker 3: Exactly, always want more.

1212
00:57:59,480 --> 00:58:01,240
Speaker 2: Well, thank you always for listening. You can find us

1213
00:58:01,240 --> 00:58:03,400
Speaker 2: online Ridiculous Crime on the social media, so we have

1214
00:58:03,520 --> 00:58:06,920
Speaker 2: our website Ridiculous Crime dot com. We obviously love you

1215
00:58:06,960 --> 00:58:09,240
Speaker 2: talk back, so please go to the iheartapp downloaded, leave

1216
00:58:09,320 --> 00:58:11,320
Speaker 2: a message you can maybe hear your voice here and

1217
00:58:11,400 --> 00:58:14,000
Speaker 2: email us if you want ever Ridiculous Crime at gmail

1218
00:58:14,040 --> 00:58:16,840
Speaker 2: dot com and write it to pre dear producer Dave.

1219
00:58:17,640 --> 00:58:25,680
Speaker 2: Thank you for listening. We'll catch you next crime. Ridiculous

1220
00:58:25,720 --> 00:58:29,080
Speaker 2: Crime is hosted by Elizabeth Dutton and Zarin Burnette, produced

1221
00:58:29,080 --> 00:58:32,920
Speaker 2: and edited by Shake Shack Shak Sonata, Shake Your Body

1222
00:58:33,000 --> 00:58:37,920
Speaker 2: Line Dave Coustin and starring Anie's Rucker as Judith. Research

1223
00:58:38,040 --> 00:58:42,040
Speaker 2: is by Desert Sunlight aficionados Marissa Brown and Andrea. Song

1224
00:58:42,120 --> 00:58:45,600
Speaker 2: Sharpened Tear our theme song is by yacht rock party

1225
00:58:45,640 --> 00:58:49,120
Speaker 2: Boys Thomas Lee and Travis Dutt. The host wardrobe provided

1226
00:58:49,160 --> 00:58:52,800
Speaker 2: by by Me five hundred, Guest Tarn makeup by Sparkleshot

1227
00:58:52,800 --> 00:58:56,880
Speaker 2: and Mister Andrea. Executive producers are Ben President of the

1228
00:58:56,960 --> 00:59:00,480
Speaker 2: Isaac from Loveboat Fan Club Bowland and Noel I was

1229
00:59:00,520 --> 00:59:02,520
Speaker 2: always a fan of Doc Brown.

1230
00:59:07,800 --> 00:59:13,480
Speaker 4: Ridicous Crime, Say It One More Time. Piquious Crime.

1231
00:59:14,520 --> 00:59:17,840
Speaker 1: Ridiculous Crime is a production of iHeartRadio. Four more podcasts

1232
00:59:17,880 --> 00:59:21,000
Speaker 1: from my heart Radio. Visit the iHeartRadio app Apple podcasts,

1233
00:59:21,120 --> 00:59:22,960
Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.