For the People (2018) s02e10 Episode Script
A Choice Between Two Things
1 [SHARON JONES & THE DAP-KINGS' "THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND" PLAYS.]
This land is your land This land is my land From California Well, to the New York Island From the Redwood Forest To the Gulf Stream waters I'll tell ya This land was made for you and me She's not a citizen.
- But I've always - Voted illegally? Yeah, where's your I.
D.
? Let me show you my I.
D.
You know why? 'Cause I bring my I.
D.
'Cause I do it legally.
Come on.
And them, too, where's their documentation? They don't need I.
D.
to vote.
They're committing voter fraud.
- You need to back up! - Oh, ho, hey.
Hey, don't leave.
You don't need to leave.
Jay, maybe we should vote another day.
- People show their I.
D.
s.
- There is no other day.
This is the day.
Maybe we vote another year.
- [INDISTINCT SHOUTING.]
- You're citizens.
I was at the swearing-in.
- You were, too.
- Can I just ask you, did you show your I.
D.
? Oh, I can't be yelling? All right, let me tell you this.
Voter fraud is a felony! You vote illegally, you go to jail! Intimidating voters is a federal crime! Is there security around here somewhere? WOMAN: There's a hotline you could try calling.
We're gonna vote.
After [INDISTINCT CONVERSATIONS.]
Better go call the hotline.
[TELEPHONE RINGS.]
This is Kate.
Kate, this is Jay.
Jay Simmons.
I need your help.
I'm at my polling place Oh, wow.
Word has really gotten out.
Okay.
So, "no" on Question 1.
- I pref - No, I don't need help with my ballot.
There's a problem here at my polling place.
What kind of problem? Voter intimidation in New York? New York has some of the most regressive, voter-restrictive laws in the country I'm from Texas.
Can you come with me to the courthouse? Why do you need me? Anything not in this warrant or affidavit I should know about, Ms.
Littlejohn? - No.
- I know you sometimes like to squirrel away information and then turn it over at the last minute.
No.
Your Honor, those documents are complete and accurate.
Good idea bringing him along.
Oliver, let's go.
Petrini crime family.
Do you know them? Violent and Organized Crime Unit has been trying to build a RICO case against the Petrini family for two years, getting nowhere, then, two weeks ago, Angelo Petrini, nephew of boss Gaetano Petrini, walks into a field office on 23rd Street, and he is singing.
- No.
- What? No.
I know exactly what this is.
You tell me I'm working on the Petrini case, I look skeptical, you convince me it's real, we start humming the theme from "The Godfather," and then I wake up, and there's some kid in my office telling me it's "Avatar"! I'm not doing that again! No! On the other hand, if this isn't a dream, then what I'm saying sounds completely insane.
That is correct.
Rosen had to jump off the case, so this is yours.
Lock down the Angelo testimony.
[RINGING.]
[BEEP.]
Personal or professional? Professional.
Personal.
I'm not actually sure.
You didn't, uh, show up the other night.
I haven't seen you in days.
I can't really talk now.
- I'm sorry.
- [BEEP.]
You two haven't talked? The integrity of our entire democracy is at risk here, and I'm the one being arrested? Our government should be thanking me.
I understand that's your opinion, but intimidation of voters is a federal crime, a serious one.
What's serious is the epidemic of election fraud.
Don't you read FraudWars? - I do not.
- FraudWars is where the facts are.
All those secrets the mainstream media tries to bury? FraudWars finds them.
Do you have any idea how many foreign nationals voted in the last election? - Nineteen.
- Millions.
Only nineteen were charged, I mean.
- In the entire country.
- You see? My point exactly.
Let's talk about your defense.
They said a lawyer was part of the deal.
Are Are you the lawyer? Who said a lawyer was part of what deal? If I'm charged with any crime in connection with the verification of voter identity, a lawyer will be provided, the compensation for which will not be reduced from the amount otherwise due to me.
You were paid for what you were doing this morning at the polling place? Well, I haven't been paid yet.
You were hired to disrupt a federal election? That was the idea.
Democracy isn't free.
Four instances of voter intimidation - in the tri-state area alone.
- And I found dozens more all around the country just like this one.
Same phrases.
Same techniques.
Challenging people's residency and citizenship.
- And you're saying they were paid? - ALLISON: Yes.
- By whom? - We don't know.
But if you immunize Harley, we can help you find out.
- He'll cooperate? - He told me he would.
How does Jay feel about that? Jay? I have no idea.
Why? - You were there? - I reported the case to Kate.
- She got the warrant.
- Did Jill know this? I guess not.
You're defending him? Well, not for very much longer! I can't defend the guy if you're going to be a potential witness.
Harley is going to need new counsel.
- He has new counsel.
- So you did know about this? - Know about what? - I was there.
He was intimidating my parents.
I didn't know that.
We just got a notice that he substituted in new counsel.
A private firm.
And a very good one.
You guys met.
Good.
- A bodyguard? - Yes.
Why do I need a bodyguard? 'Cause they're gonna try to kill you.
- Kill me?! - Yes.
You didn't mention anything about that! - Really? - I-Is that why Rosen isn't on the case? Well, Rosen has a kid and a wife.
He has a lot to live for.
You'll probably be fine, though.
Right? Sure.
I need to talk to you.
Listen.
I told her.
That I know about her and Roger.
You told me not to, but I did.
I didn't tell you not to.
I told you I wouldn't.
Well, I did.
Because what she's doing is wrong and I think she needs to end it.
Okay.
You don't have to convince me.
[SIGHS.]
You got me the swatting report.
I just thought you should know.
Jill's been good to me.
Really good to me when I needed it.
I'm not neutral on Jill.
But I'm not neutral on you, either.
Which I think you know.
If you believe this is the right thing to do, then I'm with you.
Chief of the Criminal Division and the Federal Public Defender.
I can see why you're here.
Is there any way around this, Judge? Not if you want to keep your jobs.
Look, if you were a client in your office and you found this out, how would you feel? What would you think? If we lived in a different time, I might answer differently.
But we're all that's left now.
This.
Us.
An independent judicial system.
We're the last fortification against tyranny, and it's not the marble around here that's gonna protect us.
It's our integrity.
In the eyes of others.
That's all we have.
I'm sorry, Jill.
- Hey.
How's it going? - [DOOR CLOSES.]
Really bizarre day.
- Who are you? - Oh, Jay, this is Gabe.
He's gonna be staying with us for a while.
- What? - I have a case in which I could be killed.
- You could be, too.
- Are you serious? I don't know.
Could he? Sure.
Hey! What the hell?! That was my dinner! It smelled like poison.
See.
He's here for both of us.
[SIGHS.]
Good night, Jay! Good night, Gabe.
- Why does he have a new lawyer? - Because whoever is paying him to disrupt this election wants to control his defense so he doesn't talk.
Look, this isn't our case anymore, so I can express an opinion here.
I hope you guys pursue this.
- Plus one.
- Oh, we will.
We can still bring the weight of the government down on him.
I'm not sure how much putting pressure on him will even help.
- Harley's the key.
- Or maybe this new lawyer is.
- Why do you say that? - How much does Harley even know about this whole operation? I'm guessing he's a stooge.
Based on my time with him, I think that's a good guess.
But if we figure out who this new lawyer is, we might be able to unravel this.
That might have given us a gift here.
Okay.
So who is this new lawyer? Bob Dickerson.
Sorry I'm late.
He's a partner at Walsh Gates, where he represents multiple high-ranking government officials who serve on the Board of the Alliance for American Advancement, a "pro-business" advocacy group that was responsible for paying Harley Kemp to harass my parents.
I was up all night 'cause Seth's bodyguard was snoring, but I found the time unusually productive.
- Oh, so gross.
- Can you run through this again? Okay, the Alliance for American Advancement claims to be a responsible non-profit which raises money for "issue advocacy.
" Deregulation, tax cuts, that sort of thing.
But, in fact, it's a front for voter suppression that uses well-connected lawyers and a series of artfully named shell companies VoteSafe, the Voter Sanctity Project, the Voter Justice League to pay people like Harley to intimidate voters.
These companies fund lawsuits to purge legitimate voters from the rolls and media campaigns to scare voters.
People of color.
Poor people.
Brand-new citizens.
People like my mom and dad.
So who do we go after? Who's running the Alliance? Thorne Spiller.
I did a little digging, too.
Spiller started off as a political operative.
Smear campaigns.
Dirty tricks.
Then he graduated to corporate espionage.
Now suppression of votes.
So Spiller runs the Alliance, which uses shell companies to pay the Harleys.
What do we charge Spiller with? We can't get him on voter intimidation directly and even if we could, that wouldn't be enough to bring down an elaborate operation like this.
Are you thinking what I'm thinking? Unlikely.
RICO? Yes, the same racketeering statute they use to take down the mob can be used to take down a voter-suppression cabal.
Spiller told donors to the Alliance that their money would be used for one thing, but it was used for another.
Any funds they sent anywhere at that point were fraudulent.
Which means RICO laws apply.
Which has never been tried in this context.
Well, we're not trying it now.
We know it's uphill You don't know the half of it.
All voting cases are supposed to be prosecuted by the Justice Department.
All of them.
You know that.
This warrant shouldn't ever have come through this office in the first place.
These charges shouldn't have been filed.
Well, this is where we are now.
And now we're getting out.
This is political treason.
If we can't do this, what are we doing here? [SIGHS.]
You see this chair, Roger? This chair belonged to Henry Lawrence Burnett.
He held my job in the early 1900s.
After fighting in the Civil War and prosecuting the conspiracy to assassinate Lincoln.
The Attorney General himself got it out of storage for me when I was first sworn in.
Nice gesture, right? No.
It wasn't a gesture at all.
It was a warning that the chair lives longer than I do.
That I can be out of this job faster than it stops spinning.
You're asking me to approve an uphill, untested, untried prosecution against the people who own all the chairs.
The board of this organization? And what it represents? It's everything this administration stands for.
I'm gonna take that on for a prosecution we can't even win? No.
I'm not ready to give up this chair.
It's not my time yet.
It's not yours, either.
Plead out Kemp and bury the Spiller case.
I'm sorry.
I want to review some of the testimony you gave to Mr.
Rosen, okay? On April 8th, FBI surveillance picked up an incoming call to your cellphone from Salvatore Parisi.
If you say so.
In that call, Mr.
Parisi said, "I need you to clean up that dirt Little Matty spilled.
Come by and pick up the tools.
" That's what that paper says, I guess.
When you met with Mr.
Parisi, he further clarified what he meant? Did he? You said he gave you the "tool," which was then passed on to Giancarlo Cabrizzi and used in the murder of Hector Cruz.
Is that correct? No, no, not at all.
What happened was Sal just wanted me to help him in the garden.
See, Sal, he's got a real green thumb, but his kid, Little Matty, total friggin' klutz.
So I go over there, and then Sal gave me one of those, uh you know - The thing.
- A planter? Yeah, yeah, yeah.
And, uh, one of the - A shovel.
- Right, right, but one of those little baby ones, and then, uh, I was supposed to put a thing in it.
- A - Plant.
[SIGHS LOUDLY.]
This is all wildly contradictory to your previous statements.
I was really stressed.
Things weren't going so good for me at work.
You know how that goes.
You're no longer cooperating with the government? In that case, you will likely spend the rest of your life in jail.
But I will be alive.
There's a reason why Rosen left this case.
Follow him.
Because they will kill you to kill this case.
[THE SHINS' "NEW SLANG" PLAYS.]
[VOCALIZING.]
Personal or professional? Professional.
- Spiller.
- We can't talk about that.
I took it as far as I could.
[VOCALIZING CONTINUES.]
Personal.
Sandra knows about us.
This doesn't have to be a problem.
It is, though.
You know it is.
Gold teeth and a curse for this town We haven't done anything wrong.
We don't talk about work.
Were all in my mouth We just proved it.
We're not even talking about work right now Is that good? I-I don't even know.
They got out, dear This whole situation is totally messed up.
- Turn me back into the pet - You know that.
We are compromised in ways we don't even understand.
We don't know what we can talk about and what we can't or how the things that are unsaid impact what we do.
Or don't do.
- If this comes out - What are you saying? Well, I'd 'a jumped from my tree You know what I'm saying.
And I'd 'a danced like the king of the eyesores - There's an answer here.
- The only answer is for one of us to give up our jobs.
And that is not an answer.
The dirt in your fries We had fun.
We hid.
We got caught.
That's not what this was.
Old and bony No, it wasn't.
Dawn breaks like a bull through the hall But it can't be anything else.
Never should have called But my head's to the wall, and I'm lonely Jill And if you took to me Like a gull takes to the wind Well, I'd 'a jumped You're late.
Um, it's 1:15 a.
m.
Well, if we're gonna give up everything for this job, then what we do ought to be worth it.
I want you to bring me everything we have on Spiller and voter suppression.
We're taking this son of a bitch to trial.
Mr.
Knox.
Ms.
Littlejohn.
We're ready when you are.
ROGER: We need to show fraud.
That the money spent on voter suppression was raised for other purposes.
Who do we have? My firm was contracted to do fundraising for the Alliance for over four years.
When you raised these funds, how would you do it? I would visit corporate leaders and CEOs, generally in person, and explain how their money would be used to advocate issues.
Issues such as Corporate tax cuts, deregulation.
Did those issues include voter suppression? [CHUCKLES.]
Did I ask for donations to break the law? Never.
Not once.
We need to show intent.
That Spiller knew laws were being broken.
DENMAN: I've been on the Alliance's board for five years.
And you've given money to the Alliance, Ms.
Denman? - I have.
- Were you aware that much of the money you gave for the purpose of business advocacy was actually being used for voter suppression? No, but in retrospect, I should have been.
- Can you explain? - Mr.
Spiller told me he had "ways and means" of defeating anti-corporate candidates.
Did he describe these "ways and means"? When I expressed concern over a close Congressional race, he told me not to worry.
He said, "Our people on the ground will take care of it.
" We need to show harm.
That the money Spiller raised was actually being used on the ground to stop people from voting.
We lost Harley.
He won't cooperate.
Well, then, we need to make him cooperate.
Release the hounds.
Thank you, Your Honor.
In addition to a pending charge for voter intimidation, the government expects to file 14 new charges against Mr.
Kemp related to an illegal tax scheme involving Mr.
Kemp and his sister.
This investigation is ongoing, and there may still be additional counts forthcoming.
Of course, as always, we are happy to discuss a comprehensive cooperation agreement with Mr.
Kemp.
HARLEY: I was paid $4,000 to challenge voters.
Were you told specifically how to challenge them? Yeah, we had training.
How to single out an illegal or someone who looked like they were gonna be fraudulent.
How to single "an illegal" out and do what? To get them not to vote.
I think we have this.
- Well done.
- We don't have it.
Not yet.
Anyone ever tell you you're terrible with compliments? That wasn't a compliment.
It was premature self-congratulation.
- Terrible.
- We analyzed some spreadsheets.
We connected some dots and lines.
We broke down tactics, but we didn't show a real victim, and we're not gonna win the jury without one.
You taught me that.
- She's right.
- I know she's right.
- I'm just not sure what to do.
- I know what to do.
You taught me this, too.
These guys will never flip.
They'll never turn on their family.
Family? What family? They all hate each other.
What kind of family kills each other? GABE: Polar bears.
I'm just talking to myself here.
Sand tiger sharks.
[SIGHS.]
Female wolf spiders eat male spiders during copulation You know what? That is really helpful.
Thank you for sitting down with me.
You picked me up in the produce aisle.
I really didn't have a choice.
I'm Seth Oliver.
Seth Benjamin Oliver.
Two older sisters.
Law school at the University of Michigan, and then onto a mid-tier firm.
Not entirely accurate.
How's your mom, Miriam? Is that, like, a threat? You people have been harassing my family for months.
It's only fair I know a little about you.
Now, listen, Ben - Seth.
- You entrapped my husband.
You squeezed some lies out of him.
He strung you along for a little bit, but now he's done talking.
Angelo ain't perfect, but he's a provider, and he cares for his family, and he has always been loyal to us.
[BEEP.]
ANGELO: Are you kidding? Karen ain't no innocent bystander.
We'd run the poker game in the back of her salon.
She handled the rake, ran the money through the salon's books - so it came out clean.
- [BEEP.]
I'm sorry.
That can't feel great to hear.
That your husband was willing to give you up to save himself.
There is no reason for you to go down for people who don't really care about you.
You don't care about me, either.
And those people? They're my family.
And I'm not a snitch.
So I'll stick with the devil I know.
[FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING.]
We need to talk.
Okay.
Yes.
Not here.
Where did you go to college, again? Berkeley.
Did you take philosophy? I was a history major.
One of the fundamental laws of logic is the law of non-contradiction.
Two contradictory statements cannot both be true.
I am the Federal Public Defender.
I am in a relationship with the Chief of the Criminal Division of the U.
S.
Attorney's Office.
You were right.
Those two things cannot both be true.
And yet they are.
They were.
You're young, Sandra.
You have to trust that I know some things you don't.
And one of those things is that life doesn't follow axioms.
There's no bright-line ethical standard.
There are people who do everything by the book and are deeply immoral.
There are those who break all kinds of rules who are compassionate and decent and good.
That's true here in the work we do, and it's true in the world.
It is complicated.
You asked me who I am? I am this.
I This body.
This person.
We are not our jobs, Sandra.
I know it may feel that way to you now, but eventually, even if you never want anything more, you will realize you need something more.
You are a lawyer.
You are the most talented lawyer I've ever seen in my life.
You are a lawyer.
That is who you are.
But that is not all you are.
Can you please state your name for the record? Vera Simmons.
Is this your first time testifying in court, - Ms.
Simmons? - Yes.
Are you nervous? Very.
I understand.
I'm gonna ask you a few questions, and you just need to answer truthfully, okay? Yes.
I want to draw your attention to election day.
Yes.
Did you vote? No.
Why not? There was a man there who told us that we were voting illegally.
That we needed documentation.
Is the man in this photo, which is marked as Government Exhibit 38, the man who was at the polling place? Yes.
When he asked you for documentation, what did you do? I l-left.
I went home.
I was scared.
How long have you been a United States citizen, Ms.
Simmons? Seventeen months and two weeks.
This would have been your first vote in this country? This would have been my first vote anywhere.
You never voted in Syria? I went to the polls one time.
I was 23.
I had a newborn.
A boy.
It was a two-hour bus ride from our home.
I wore nice clothes.
I heard that was what you were supposed to do.
I might have seen that on American television.
I waited in line for three hours, and then I opened my ballot and there was only one candidate.
One.
I wept.
I remember looking at the face of my son, and I wept.
A vote is a choice between two things.
I did not vote that day.
I still have never voted.
[SIREN WAILS IN DISTANCE.]
[DOOR OPENS.]
Gabe? What are you doing? Is that a shoe? Why are you looking at those files? I had to use the bathroom, and I just saw this stuff on my way out.
I was curious how things are going.
How is it going? You gonna make another run at Karen? I can't talk about the case.
Of course you can't.
I'm gonna post up out here.
Okay.
The Petrinis are very dangerous people, capable of heinous things.
I can feel you're getting close.
[LOCK CLICKS.]
[ALARM BLARING.]
[SIREN WAILS IN DISTANCE.]
[ALARM CONTINUES.]
[SNIFFS.]
[SCREAMING.]
Oh, thank God! Gaetano Petrini would like to say hello.
No.
[GRUNTS.]
[THUD.]
[SIGHS.]
Dude, drama, drama, drama.
So much drama with you.
You saved my life.
In your dreams.
Is this a dream? You think I'd do this in real life? I might.
I would.
We're family.
Now get up.
You've got to talk to Karen.
You're really desperate.
[CHUCKLES.]
Yes, I am.
I am desperate.
Look, Karen.
I don't know the Petrini family.
I know their names.
I know what they look like.
I know what crimes they've committed.
I know I want to take them down.
But I don't know them like you know them.
Like a family.
This is your family.
I'm not gonna try and convince you to turn on people you love by telling you all the bad things they've done.
You know.
I just want to ask what you think they would do in your situation.
Would they be as loyal to you as you are to them? Are you sure? Was Angelo? I don't know the Petrinis, but I do know that family sticks with you no matter what.
Family would take a bullet for you, and they know you'd do the same for them.
Do you really feel that way about these people? Are you willing to risk your son's future on their word? If so, go with God.
If not, I'm offering you a way out.
The choice is yours.
[SIGHS.]
I don't know.
Then let's keep talking.
In a few hours, you're going to go through that door, you're going to sit down together, you're going to sort through the evidence, you're going to listen to each other, you're going to argue you will and then you're gonna do what humans have done throughout history to make difficult and important decisions.
You are going to vote.
We are here so that you can vote.
Our entire system of justice is built on this.
Your vote.
So, now, imagine, you go back into that room, and someone comes in and says, "Wait, no.
Not you.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
You can't vote.
He votes.
And him.
And him.
And that's it.
That is this case.
Mr.
Spiller created a sophisticated operation to deprive Americans of their existential right to participate in self-government.
It is flagrantly undemocratic, but what is so pernicious and insidious about this operation is that it pretends to preserve the democratic government it undermines.
"Oh, we're just rooting out 'fraud.
' We're just trying to 'protect' the vote.
We care about the 'integrity' of the election.
" These are lies.
And these are dangerous lies, because the greatest threat to democracy is making it meaningless.
Hollow.
Dysfunctional.
If you live in an authoritarian government and some of you have, I'm sure there is always the promise of democracy.
There is hope.
But if appears to be a democracy and it doesn't work what is there left to hope for? There is here, now, something left to hope for.
Democracy isn't one story.
It is our story.
Of coming together.
Of building and progress.
Of unity and participation and representation.
It is a story.
That starts with one person on one day in one line pulling one lever.
An ink-stained thumb.
A red pinky.
A paper ticket in a plastic bucket.
An X.
A number.
A digit.
A pencil mark.
A raised hand.
A voice.
A vote.
A choice.
A choice between two things.
And this choice today is yours.
You can continue to tell this story our story or you can help end it.
I understand the jury has reached a unanimous verdict.
WOMAN: Yes, Your Honor.
In the matter of United States v.
Spiller on Count One, Racketeering, how do you find the defendant, guilty or not guilty? Guilty.
The chair is yours.
We won.
This isn't a win to them.
This is an insurrection.
We are the sovereign district, and Washington has never liked that, but they have lived with it.
They are not gonna live with this.
This was a direct assault on their power.
Someone has to pay.
Then someone will.
I have 30 days.
No.
Not you.
[SIREN WAILS IN DISTANCE.]
What are you doing here? I came to see you.
Personal or professional? - Personal.
- You shouldn't be here.
They offered me Acting U.
S.
Attorney.
What are you talking about? Washington didn't like the Spiller case.
They want Delap out.
And what did you say? I said I was honored.
I said, uh, this is the job I've wanted my whole life.
I said I love this office and everything it represents but I love the woman across the street even more.
- Roger - I actually didn't say the last part.
They would have thought that was weird.
Roger.
I quit, Jill.
I quit.
- You didn't.
- I did.
And I know you're thinking, "I didn't want you to quit your job.
I don't want that responsibility.
" I know you're thinking this.
But it's not your responsibility.
It's mine.
And I don't care if this all falls apart tomorrow.
I really don't.
We are here now, and I want five minutes with you more than I want that chair.
What chair? Can you kiss me, please? As most of you have now heard, Roger Gunn has resigned his job as Chief of the Criminal Division.
I'm pleased to announce his replacement.
Where is she? [APPLAUSE.]
[INDISTINCT CONVERSATIONS.]
We're taking the party down to Tiny's.
- You coming? - Yes.
You? - Yes, of course.
- Of course? Yeah, I wouldn't miss something like this.
13 after-work drinks.
4 trivia nights.
2 softball games.
- [SCOFFS.]
- One darts tournament.
You're gonna count a darts tournament? - We won.
- Against who? They appeared to be children.
Mm-hmm.
We should go.
Place is called Tiny's.
We're never all gonna fit.
[THE DECEMBERISTS' "MAKE YOU BETTER" PLAYS.]
Sandra.
Ted.
What are you doing? I'm not neutral on you, either.
Sandra.
You look nervous.
I don't get nervous.
There are some ground rules here.
Nothing at work.
Mm-hmm.
I will never sacrifice my job for anything.
Not ever.
You can never ask me to clean my office.
Never at work.
Now you're just repeating yourself.
- Never.
- I want you, thin fingers - That's a lot of rules.
- I wanted you, thin fingernails Well, I am a lawyer.
And when you bend backwards I wanted you, I needed you Oh-oh, to make me better I'll love you in springtime I lost you when summer came And when you pulled backwards I wanted you to make me better But we're not so starry-eyed anymore Like the perfect paramour you were in your letters And won't it all just come around to make you Let it all unbreak you to the day you met her Won't it all just come around to make you Let it all unbreak you to the day that you met her But it'd make you better, oh Series Finale.
This land is your land This land is my land From California Well, to the New York Island From the Redwood Forest To the Gulf Stream waters I'll tell ya This land was made for you and me She's not a citizen.
- But I've always - Voted illegally? Yeah, where's your I.
D.
? Let me show you my I.
D.
You know why? 'Cause I bring my I.
D.
'Cause I do it legally.
Come on.
And them, too, where's their documentation? They don't need I.
D.
to vote.
They're committing voter fraud.
- You need to back up! - Oh, ho, hey.
Hey, don't leave.
You don't need to leave.
Jay, maybe we should vote another day.
- People show their I.
D.
s.
- There is no other day.
This is the day.
Maybe we vote another year.
- [INDISTINCT SHOUTING.]
- You're citizens.
I was at the swearing-in.
- You were, too.
- Can I just ask you, did you show your I.
D.
? Oh, I can't be yelling? All right, let me tell you this.
Voter fraud is a felony! You vote illegally, you go to jail! Intimidating voters is a federal crime! Is there security around here somewhere? WOMAN: There's a hotline you could try calling.
We're gonna vote.
After [INDISTINCT CONVERSATIONS.]
Better go call the hotline.
[TELEPHONE RINGS.]
This is Kate.
Kate, this is Jay.
Jay Simmons.
I need your help.
I'm at my polling place Oh, wow.
Word has really gotten out.
Okay.
So, "no" on Question 1.
- I pref - No, I don't need help with my ballot.
There's a problem here at my polling place.
What kind of problem? Voter intimidation in New York? New York has some of the most regressive, voter-restrictive laws in the country I'm from Texas.
Can you come with me to the courthouse? Why do you need me? Anything not in this warrant or affidavit I should know about, Ms.
Littlejohn? - No.
- I know you sometimes like to squirrel away information and then turn it over at the last minute.
No.
Your Honor, those documents are complete and accurate.
Good idea bringing him along.
Oliver, let's go.
Petrini crime family.
Do you know them? Violent and Organized Crime Unit has been trying to build a RICO case against the Petrini family for two years, getting nowhere, then, two weeks ago, Angelo Petrini, nephew of boss Gaetano Petrini, walks into a field office on 23rd Street, and he is singing.
- No.
- What? No.
I know exactly what this is.
You tell me I'm working on the Petrini case, I look skeptical, you convince me it's real, we start humming the theme from "The Godfather," and then I wake up, and there's some kid in my office telling me it's "Avatar"! I'm not doing that again! No! On the other hand, if this isn't a dream, then what I'm saying sounds completely insane.
That is correct.
Rosen had to jump off the case, so this is yours.
Lock down the Angelo testimony.
[RINGING.]
[BEEP.]
Personal or professional? Professional.
Personal.
I'm not actually sure.
You didn't, uh, show up the other night.
I haven't seen you in days.
I can't really talk now.
- I'm sorry.
- [BEEP.]
You two haven't talked? The integrity of our entire democracy is at risk here, and I'm the one being arrested? Our government should be thanking me.
I understand that's your opinion, but intimidation of voters is a federal crime, a serious one.
What's serious is the epidemic of election fraud.
Don't you read FraudWars? - I do not.
- FraudWars is where the facts are.
All those secrets the mainstream media tries to bury? FraudWars finds them.
Do you have any idea how many foreign nationals voted in the last election? - Nineteen.
- Millions.
Only nineteen were charged, I mean.
- In the entire country.
- You see? My point exactly.
Let's talk about your defense.
They said a lawyer was part of the deal.
Are Are you the lawyer? Who said a lawyer was part of what deal? If I'm charged with any crime in connection with the verification of voter identity, a lawyer will be provided, the compensation for which will not be reduced from the amount otherwise due to me.
You were paid for what you were doing this morning at the polling place? Well, I haven't been paid yet.
You were hired to disrupt a federal election? That was the idea.
Democracy isn't free.
Four instances of voter intimidation - in the tri-state area alone.
- And I found dozens more all around the country just like this one.
Same phrases.
Same techniques.
Challenging people's residency and citizenship.
- And you're saying they were paid? - ALLISON: Yes.
- By whom? - We don't know.
But if you immunize Harley, we can help you find out.
- He'll cooperate? - He told me he would.
How does Jay feel about that? Jay? I have no idea.
Why? - You were there? - I reported the case to Kate.
- She got the warrant.
- Did Jill know this? I guess not.
You're defending him? Well, not for very much longer! I can't defend the guy if you're going to be a potential witness.
Harley is going to need new counsel.
- He has new counsel.
- So you did know about this? - Know about what? - I was there.
He was intimidating my parents.
I didn't know that.
We just got a notice that he substituted in new counsel.
A private firm.
And a very good one.
You guys met.
Good.
- A bodyguard? - Yes.
Why do I need a bodyguard? 'Cause they're gonna try to kill you.
- Kill me?! - Yes.
You didn't mention anything about that! - Really? - I-Is that why Rosen isn't on the case? Well, Rosen has a kid and a wife.
He has a lot to live for.
You'll probably be fine, though.
Right? Sure.
I need to talk to you.
Listen.
I told her.
That I know about her and Roger.
You told me not to, but I did.
I didn't tell you not to.
I told you I wouldn't.
Well, I did.
Because what she's doing is wrong and I think she needs to end it.
Okay.
You don't have to convince me.
[SIGHS.]
You got me the swatting report.
I just thought you should know.
Jill's been good to me.
Really good to me when I needed it.
I'm not neutral on Jill.
But I'm not neutral on you, either.
Which I think you know.
If you believe this is the right thing to do, then I'm with you.
Chief of the Criminal Division and the Federal Public Defender.
I can see why you're here.
Is there any way around this, Judge? Not if you want to keep your jobs.
Look, if you were a client in your office and you found this out, how would you feel? What would you think? If we lived in a different time, I might answer differently.
But we're all that's left now.
This.
Us.
An independent judicial system.
We're the last fortification against tyranny, and it's not the marble around here that's gonna protect us.
It's our integrity.
In the eyes of others.
That's all we have.
I'm sorry, Jill.
- Hey.
How's it going? - [DOOR CLOSES.]
Really bizarre day.
- Who are you? - Oh, Jay, this is Gabe.
He's gonna be staying with us for a while.
- What? - I have a case in which I could be killed.
- You could be, too.
- Are you serious? I don't know.
Could he? Sure.
Hey! What the hell?! That was my dinner! It smelled like poison.
See.
He's here for both of us.
[SIGHS.]
Good night, Jay! Good night, Gabe.
- Why does he have a new lawyer? - Because whoever is paying him to disrupt this election wants to control his defense so he doesn't talk.
Look, this isn't our case anymore, so I can express an opinion here.
I hope you guys pursue this.
- Plus one.
- Oh, we will.
We can still bring the weight of the government down on him.
I'm not sure how much putting pressure on him will even help.
- Harley's the key.
- Or maybe this new lawyer is.
- Why do you say that? - How much does Harley even know about this whole operation? I'm guessing he's a stooge.
Based on my time with him, I think that's a good guess.
But if we figure out who this new lawyer is, we might be able to unravel this.
That might have given us a gift here.
Okay.
So who is this new lawyer? Bob Dickerson.
Sorry I'm late.
He's a partner at Walsh Gates, where he represents multiple high-ranking government officials who serve on the Board of the Alliance for American Advancement, a "pro-business" advocacy group that was responsible for paying Harley Kemp to harass my parents.
I was up all night 'cause Seth's bodyguard was snoring, but I found the time unusually productive.
- Oh, so gross.
- Can you run through this again? Okay, the Alliance for American Advancement claims to be a responsible non-profit which raises money for "issue advocacy.
" Deregulation, tax cuts, that sort of thing.
But, in fact, it's a front for voter suppression that uses well-connected lawyers and a series of artfully named shell companies VoteSafe, the Voter Sanctity Project, the Voter Justice League to pay people like Harley to intimidate voters.
These companies fund lawsuits to purge legitimate voters from the rolls and media campaigns to scare voters.
People of color.
Poor people.
Brand-new citizens.
People like my mom and dad.
So who do we go after? Who's running the Alliance? Thorne Spiller.
I did a little digging, too.
Spiller started off as a political operative.
Smear campaigns.
Dirty tricks.
Then he graduated to corporate espionage.
Now suppression of votes.
So Spiller runs the Alliance, which uses shell companies to pay the Harleys.
What do we charge Spiller with? We can't get him on voter intimidation directly and even if we could, that wouldn't be enough to bring down an elaborate operation like this.
Are you thinking what I'm thinking? Unlikely.
RICO? Yes, the same racketeering statute they use to take down the mob can be used to take down a voter-suppression cabal.
Spiller told donors to the Alliance that their money would be used for one thing, but it was used for another.
Any funds they sent anywhere at that point were fraudulent.
Which means RICO laws apply.
Which has never been tried in this context.
Well, we're not trying it now.
We know it's uphill You don't know the half of it.
All voting cases are supposed to be prosecuted by the Justice Department.
All of them.
You know that.
This warrant shouldn't ever have come through this office in the first place.
These charges shouldn't have been filed.
Well, this is where we are now.
And now we're getting out.
This is political treason.
If we can't do this, what are we doing here? [SIGHS.]
You see this chair, Roger? This chair belonged to Henry Lawrence Burnett.
He held my job in the early 1900s.
After fighting in the Civil War and prosecuting the conspiracy to assassinate Lincoln.
The Attorney General himself got it out of storage for me when I was first sworn in.
Nice gesture, right? No.
It wasn't a gesture at all.
It was a warning that the chair lives longer than I do.
That I can be out of this job faster than it stops spinning.
You're asking me to approve an uphill, untested, untried prosecution against the people who own all the chairs.
The board of this organization? And what it represents? It's everything this administration stands for.
I'm gonna take that on for a prosecution we can't even win? No.
I'm not ready to give up this chair.
It's not my time yet.
It's not yours, either.
Plead out Kemp and bury the Spiller case.
I'm sorry.
I want to review some of the testimony you gave to Mr.
Rosen, okay? On April 8th, FBI surveillance picked up an incoming call to your cellphone from Salvatore Parisi.
If you say so.
In that call, Mr.
Parisi said, "I need you to clean up that dirt Little Matty spilled.
Come by and pick up the tools.
" That's what that paper says, I guess.
When you met with Mr.
Parisi, he further clarified what he meant? Did he? You said he gave you the "tool," which was then passed on to Giancarlo Cabrizzi and used in the murder of Hector Cruz.
Is that correct? No, no, not at all.
What happened was Sal just wanted me to help him in the garden.
See, Sal, he's got a real green thumb, but his kid, Little Matty, total friggin' klutz.
So I go over there, and then Sal gave me one of those, uh you know - The thing.
- A planter? Yeah, yeah, yeah.
And, uh, one of the - A shovel.
- Right, right, but one of those little baby ones, and then, uh, I was supposed to put a thing in it.
- A - Plant.
[SIGHS LOUDLY.]
This is all wildly contradictory to your previous statements.
I was really stressed.
Things weren't going so good for me at work.
You know how that goes.
You're no longer cooperating with the government? In that case, you will likely spend the rest of your life in jail.
But I will be alive.
There's a reason why Rosen left this case.
Follow him.
Because they will kill you to kill this case.
[THE SHINS' "NEW SLANG" PLAYS.]
[VOCALIZING.]
Personal or professional? Professional.
- Spiller.
- We can't talk about that.
I took it as far as I could.
[VOCALIZING CONTINUES.]
Personal.
Sandra knows about us.
This doesn't have to be a problem.
It is, though.
You know it is.
Gold teeth and a curse for this town We haven't done anything wrong.
We don't talk about work.
Were all in my mouth We just proved it.
We're not even talking about work right now Is that good? I-I don't even know.
They got out, dear This whole situation is totally messed up.
- Turn me back into the pet - You know that.
We are compromised in ways we don't even understand.
We don't know what we can talk about and what we can't or how the things that are unsaid impact what we do.
Or don't do.
- If this comes out - What are you saying? Well, I'd 'a jumped from my tree You know what I'm saying.
And I'd 'a danced like the king of the eyesores - There's an answer here.
- The only answer is for one of us to give up our jobs.
And that is not an answer.
The dirt in your fries We had fun.
We hid.
We got caught.
That's not what this was.
Old and bony No, it wasn't.
Dawn breaks like a bull through the hall But it can't be anything else.
Never should have called But my head's to the wall, and I'm lonely Jill And if you took to me Like a gull takes to the wind Well, I'd 'a jumped You're late.
Um, it's 1:15 a.
m.
Well, if we're gonna give up everything for this job, then what we do ought to be worth it.
I want you to bring me everything we have on Spiller and voter suppression.
We're taking this son of a bitch to trial.
Mr.
Knox.
Ms.
Littlejohn.
We're ready when you are.
ROGER: We need to show fraud.
That the money spent on voter suppression was raised for other purposes.
Who do we have? My firm was contracted to do fundraising for the Alliance for over four years.
When you raised these funds, how would you do it? I would visit corporate leaders and CEOs, generally in person, and explain how their money would be used to advocate issues.
Issues such as Corporate tax cuts, deregulation.
Did those issues include voter suppression? [CHUCKLES.]
Did I ask for donations to break the law? Never.
Not once.
We need to show intent.
That Spiller knew laws were being broken.
DENMAN: I've been on the Alliance's board for five years.
And you've given money to the Alliance, Ms.
Denman? - I have.
- Were you aware that much of the money you gave for the purpose of business advocacy was actually being used for voter suppression? No, but in retrospect, I should have been.
- Can you explain? - Mr.
Spiller told me he had "ways and means" of defeating anti-corporate candidates.
Did he describe these "ways and means"? When I expressed concern over a close Congressional race, he told me not to worry.
He said, "Our people on the ground will take care of it.
" We need to show harm.
That the money Spiller raised was actually being used on the ground to stop people from voting.
We lost Harley.
He won't cooperate.
Well, then, we need to make him cooperate.
Release the hounds.
Thank you, Your Honor.
In addition to a pending charge for voter intimidation, the government expects to file 14 new charges against Mr.
Kemp related to an illegal tax scheme involving Mr.
Kemp and his sister.
This investigation is ongoing, and there may still be additional counts forthcoming.
Of course, as always, we are happy to discuss a comprehensive cooperation agreement with Mr.
Kemp.
HARLEY: I was paid $4,000 to challenge voters.
Were you told specifically how to challenge them? Yeah, we had training.
How to single out an illegal or someone who looked like they were gonna be fraudulent.
How to single "an illegal" out and do what? To get them not to vote.
I think we have this.
- Well done.
- We don't have it.
Not yet.
Anyone ever tell you you're terrible with compliments? That wasn't a compliment.
It was premature self-congratulation.
- Terrible.
- We analyzed some spreadsheets.
We connected some dots and lines.
We broke down tactics, but we didn't show a real victim, and we're not gonna win the jury without one.
You taught me that.
- She's right.
- I know she's right.
- I'm just not sure what to do.
- I know what to do.
You taught me this, too.
These guys will never flip.
They'll never turn on their family.
Family? What family? They all hate each other.
What kind of family kills each other? GABE: Polar bears.
I'm just talking to myself here.
Sand tiger sharks.
[SIGHS.]
Female wolf spiders eat male spiders during copulation You know what? That is really helpful.
Thank you for sitting down with me.
You picked me up in the produce aisle.
I really didn't have a choice.
I'm Seth Oliver.
Seth Benjamin Oliver.
Two older sisters.
Law school at the University of Michigan, and then onto a mid-tier firm.
Not entirely accurate.
How's your mom, Miriam? Is that, like, a threat? You people have been harassing my family for months.
It's only fair I know a little about you.
Now, listen, Ben - Seth.
- You entrapped my husband.
You squeezed some lies out of him.
He strung you along for a little bit, but now he's done talking.
Angelo ain't perfect, but he's a provider, and he cares for his family, and he has always been loyal to us.
[BEEP.]
ANGELO: Are you kidding? Karen ain't no innocent bystander.
We'd run the poker game in the back of her salon.
She handled the rake, ran the money through the salon's books - so it came out clean.
- [BEEP.]
I'm sorry.
That can't feel great to hear.
That your husband was willing to give you up to save himself.
There is no reason for you to go down for people who don't really care about you.
You don't care about me, either.
And those people? They're my family.
And I'm not a snitch.
So I'll stick with the devil I know.
[FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING.]
We need to talk.
Okay.
Yes.
Not here.
Where did you go to college, again? Berkeley.
Did you take philosophy? I was a history major.
One of the fundamental laws of logic is the law of non-contradiction.
Two contradictory statements cannot both be true.
I am the Federal Public Defender.
I am in a relationship with the Chief of the Criminal Division of the U.
S.
Attorney's Office.
You were right.
Those two things cannot both be true.
And yet they are.
They were.
You're young, Sandra.
You have to trust that I know some things you don't.
And one of those things is that life doesn't follow axioms.
There's no bright-line ethical standard.
There are people who do everything by the book and are deeply immoral.
There are those who break all kinds of rules who are compassionate and decent and good.
That's true here in the work we do, and it's true in the world.
It is complicated.
You asked me who I am? I am this.
I This body.
This person.
We are not our jobs, Sandra.
I know it may feel that way to you now, but eventually, even if you never want anything more, you will realize you need something more.
You are a lawyer.
You are the most talented lawyer I've ever seen in my life.
You are a lawyer.
That is who you are.
But that is not all you are.
Can you please state your name for the record? Vera Simmons.
Is this your first time testifying in court, - Ms.
Simmons? - Yes.
Are you nervous? Very.
I understand.
I'm gonna ask you a few questions, and you just need to answer truthfully, okay? Yes.
I want to draw your attention to election day.
Yes.
Did you vote? No.
Why not? There was a man there who told us that we were voting illegally.
That we needed documentation.
Is the man in this photo, which is marked as Government Exhibit 38, the man who was at the polling place? Yes.
When he asked you for documentation, what did you do? I l-left.
I went home.
I was scared.
How long have you been a United States citizen, Ms.
Simmons? Seventeen months and two weeks.
This would have been your first vote in this country? This would have been my first vote anywhere.
You never voted in Syria? I went to the polls one time.
I was 23.
I had a newborn.
A boy.
It was a two-hour bus ride from our home.
I wore nice clothes.
I heard that was what you were supposed to do.
I might have seen that on American television.
I waited in line for three hours, and then I opened my ballot and there was only one candidate.
One.
I wept.
I remember looking at the face of my son, and I wept.
A vote is a choice between two things.
I did not vote that day.
I still have never voted.
[SIREN WAILS IN DISTANCE.]
[DOOR OPENS.]
Gabe? What are you doing? Is that a shoe? Why are you looking at those files? I had to use the bathroom, and I just saw this stuff on my way out.
I was curious how things are going.
How is it going? You gonna make another run at Karen? I can't talk about the case.
Of course you can't.
I'm gonna post up out here.
Okay.
The Petrinis are very dangerous people, capable of heinous things.
I can feel you're getting close.
[LOCK CLICKS.]
[ALARM BLARING.]
[SIREN WAILS IN DISTANCE.]
[ALARM CONTINUES.]
[SNIFFS.]
[SCREAMING.]
Oh, thank God! Gaetano Petrini would like to say hello.
No.
[GRUNTS.]
[THUD.]
[SIGHS.]
Dude, drama, drama, drama.
So much drama with you.
You saved my life.
In your dreams.
Is this a dream? You think I'd do this in real life? I might.
I would.
We're family.
Now get up.
You've got to talk to Karen.
You're really desperate.
[CHUCKLES.]
Yes, I am.
I am desperate.
Look, Karen.
I don't know the Petrini family.
I know their names.
I know what they look like.
I know what crimes they've committed.
I know I want to take them down.
But I don't know them like you know them.
Like a family.
This is your family.
I'm not gonna try and convince you to turn on people you love by telling you all the bad things they've done.
You know.
I just want to ask what you think they would do in your situation.
Would they be as loyal to you as you are to them? Are you sure? Was Angelo? I don't know the Petrinis, but I do know that family sticks with you no matter what.
Family would take a bullet for you, and they know you'd do the same for them.
Do you really feel that way about these people? Are you willing to risk your son's future on their word? If so, go with God.
If not, I'm offering you a way out.
The choice is yours.
[SIGHS.]
I don't know.
Then let's keep talking.
In a few hours, you're going to go through that door, you're going to sit down together, you're going to sort through the evidence, you're going to listen to each other, you're going to argue you will and then you're gonna do what humans have done throughout history to make difficult and important decisions.
You are going to vote.
We are here so that you can vote.
Our entire system of justice is built on this.
Your vote.
So, now, imagine, you go back into that room, and someone comes in and says, "Wait, no.
Not you.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
You can't vote.
He votes.
And him.
And him.
And that's it.
That is this case.
Mr.
Spiller created a sophisticated operation to deprive Americans of their existential right to participate in self-government.
It is flagrantly undemocratic, but what is so pernicious and insidious about this operation is that it pretends to preserve the democratic government it undermines.
"Oh, we're just rooting out 'fraud.
' We're just trying to 'protect' the vote.
We care about the 'integrity' of the election.
" These are lies.
And these are dangerous lies, because the greatest threat to democracy is making it meaningless.
Hollow.
Dysfunctional.
If you live in an authoritarian government and some of you have, I'm sure there is always the promise of democracy.
There is hope.
But if appears to be a democracy and it doesn't work what is there left to hope for? There is here, now, something left to hope for.
Democracy isn't one story.
It is our story.
Of coming together.
Of building and progress.
Of unity and participation and representation.
It is a story.
That starts with one person on one day in one line pulling one lever.
An ink-stained thumb.
A red pinky.
A paper ticket in a plastic bucket.
An X.
A number.
A digit.
A pencil mark.
A raised hand.
A voice.
A vote.
A choice.
A choice between two things.
And this choice today is yours.
You can continue to tell this story our story or you can help end it.
I understand the jury has reached a unanimous verdict.
WOMAN: Yes, Your Honor.
In the matter of United States v.
Spiller on Count One, Racketeering, how do you find the defendant, guilty or not guilty? Guilty.
The chair is yours.
We won.
This isn't a win to them.
This is an insurrection.
We are the sovereign district, and Washington has never liked that, but they have lived with it.
They are not gonna live with this.
This was a direct assault on their power.
Someone has to pay.
Then someone will.
I have 30 days.
No.
Not you.
[SIREN WAILS IN DISTANCE.]
What are you doing here? I came to see you.
Personal or professional? - Personal.
- You shouldn't be here.
They offered me Acting U.
S.
Attorney.
What are you talking about? Washington didn't like the Spiller case.
They want Delap out.
And what did you say? I said I was honored.
I said, uh, this is the job I've wanted my whole life.
I said I love this office and everything it represents but I love the woman across the street even more.
- Roger - I actually didn't say the last part.
They would have thought that was weird.
Roger.
I quit, Jill.
I quit.
- You didn't.
- I did.
And I know you're thinking, "I didn't want you to quit your job.
I don't want that responsibility.
" I know you're thinking this.
But it's not your responsibility.
It's mine.
And I don't care if this all falls apart tomorrow.
I really don't.
We are here now, and I want five minutes with you more than I want that chair.
What chair? Can you kiss me, please? As most of you have now heard, Roger Gunn has resigned his job as Chief of the Criminal Division.
I'm pleased to announce his replacement.
Where is she? [APPLAUSE.]
[INDISTINCT CONVERSATIONS.]
We're taking the party down to Tiny's.
- You coming? - Yes.
You? - Yes, of course.
- Of course? Yeah, I wouldn't miss something like this.
13 after-work drinks.
4 trivia nights.
2 softball games.
- [SCOFFS.]
- One darts tournament.
You're gonna count a darts tournament? - We won.
- Against who? They appeared to be children.
Mm-hmm.
We should go.
Place is called Tiny's.
We're never all gonna fit.
[THE DECEMBERISTS' "MAKE YOU BETTER" PLAYS.]
Sandra.
Ted.
What are you doing? I'm not neutral on you, either.
Sandra.
You look nervous.
I don't get nervous.
There are some ground rules here.
Nothing at work.
Mm-hmm.
I will never sacrifice my job for anything.
Not ever.
You can never ask me to clean my office.
Never at work.
Now you're just repeating yourself.
- Never.
- I want you, thin fingers - That's a lot of rules.
- I wanted you, thin fingernails Well, I am a lawyer.
And when you bend backwards I wanted you, I needed you Oh-oh, to make me better I'll love you in springtime I lost you when summer came And when you pulled backwards I wanted you to make me better But we're not so starry-eyed anymore Like the perfect paramour you were in your letters And won't it all just come around to make you Let it all unbreak you to the day you met her Won't it all just come around to make you Let it all unbreak you to the day that you met her But it'd make you better, oh Series Finale.