" [Journalist] Bob Woodward is facing widespread criticism for only now revealing President Donald Trump’s early concerns about the severity of the coronavirus." — AP, 9/9/20
An underground parking garage. Dimly lit. A few cars parked here and there. WOODWARD hesitates on the ramp, looks around. As he moves forward he sees a MAN, smoking a cigarette and leaning against a wall. The MAN speaks.
DEEP THROAT: I saw the flag signal — what do you have?
WOODWARD: Nothing — the story’s gone underground.
DEEP THROAT: And you’d thought I’d help out on specifics? (shakes his head) I’ll confirm what you get, try to keep you on the right track, but that’s all. Did you really interview him?
(WOODWARD nods.)
DEEP THROAT: How many times?
WOODWARD: I don’t know, maybe sixteen, eighteen times.
DEEP THROAT: Then there must be something, mustn’t there? Look, forget the myths the media’s created about the Trump White House — the truth is, these are not very bright guys…
WOODWARD: No, I know that. I actually got a ton of good stuff.
DEEP THROAT: Like what?
WOODWARD: Well, like even though the president knew early on that the virus was deadly, he’s purposely playing it down. If he publicly supported the strict recommended guidelines of his COVID task force, maybe hundreds of thousands of lives could be saved.
DEEP THROAT: Okay…
WOODWARD: And that Dr. Anthony Fauci, our nation’s leading expert in infectious disease, thinks Trump’s leadership is “rudderless” and that his “attention span is like a minus number.”
DEEP THROAT: I see…
WOODWARD: And the former Secretary of Defense, James Mattis, called the president “dangerous” and “unfit” to be commander in chief.
DEEP THROAT: Wow…
WOODWARD: And Dan Coats, the former Director of National Intelligence, believes that Vladimir Putin has something on Trump, which explains the president forever kowtowing to the Kremlin.
DEEP THROAT: And all of this is verified, on the record?
WOODWARD: Yes, I even have hours of recorded interviews with the president.
DEEP THROAT: (confused) So what are you waiting for?
WOODWARD: September.
DEEP THROAT: September?
WOODWARD: That’s when my book comes out.
DEEP THROAT: What? You can’t sit on on all this, our nation’s security is at stake — American’s lives are at stake!
WOODWARD: Yeah, I get that. But that advice you gave has really stuck with me.
DEEP THROAT: What advice?
WOODWARD: “Follow the money. Always follow the money.”