1 00:00:01,640 --> 00:00:05,520 [dramatic music] 2 00:00:05,640 --> 00:00:08,520 [Duchovny] Tonight on "Secrets Declassified," 3 00:00:08,640 --> 00:00:11,560 the rogue missions that broke all the rules, 4 00:00:11,680 --> 00:00:14,360 like the black op to kidnap a Nazi war criminal 5 00:00:14,480 --> 00:00:16,160 in broad daylight. 6 00:00:16,280 --> 00:00:18,000 [Sami] He's one of the most wanted men in the world, 7 00:00:18,120 --> 00:00:21,200 and they have just one chance to bring him in. 8 00:00:21,320 --> 00:00:25,400 - Winston Churchill recruits a boatload of modern-day pirates. 9 00:00:25,520 --> 00:00:27,480 - There's fighting dirty, and then there's 10 00:00:27,600 --> 00:00:29,160 fighting like Churchill. 11 00:00:29,280 --> 00:00:31,640 - And the wartime spy who goes undercover 12 00:00:31,760 --> 00:00:34,280 in one of the deadliest places in history. 13 00:00:34,400 --> 00:00:37,160 - Who's mad enough to actually break into Auschwitz? 14 00:00:37,280 --> 00:00:39,880 - These are the most extreme and illicit missions 15 00:00:40,000 --> 00:00:41,920 ever carried out by governments and the people 16 00:00:42,040 --> 00:00:43,080 who work for them. 17 00:00:43,200 --> 00:00:45,280 It's time to bring them to light. 18 00:00:45,360 --> 00:00:52,400 ♪ ♪ 19 00:00:53,840 --> 00:00:57,480 In 1960, a group of men arrive at Buenos Aires airport. 20 00:00:57,600 --> 00:01:00,360 They look like ordinary businessmen on a sales trip. 21 00:01:00,480 --> 00:01:02,520 In fact, they're intelligence operatives 22 00:01:02,640 --> 00:01:04,800 on a high-stakes operation: 23 00:01:04,920 --> 00:01:08,160 to kidnap a factory worker called Ricardo Klement. 24 00:01:08,280 --> 00:01:11,240 Real name? Adolf Eichmann. 25 00:01:11,360 --> 00:01:14,680 [suspenseful music] 26 00:01:14,800 --> 00:01:17,720 [Sami] It's been 15 years since the end of World War II, 27 00:01:17,840 --> 00:01:19,800 and Adolf Eichmann is one of the most 28 00:01:19,920 --> 00:01:23,200 notorious Nazi war criminals still evading justice. 29 00:01:23,320 --> 00:01:25,680 [Andrew] Eichmann, more so than almost anyone else, 30 00:01:25,800 --> 00:01:28,360 is the logistical architect of the Holocaust, 31 00:01:28,480 --> 00:01:31,440 turning genocide into an industrial operation. 32 00:01:31,560 --> 00:01:33,920 [Martin] He escaped justice after the war. 33 00:01:34,040 --> 00:01:36,600 He's still on the loose somewhere, probably alive, 34 00:01:36,720 --> 00:01:38,480 but nobody could find out where. 35 00:01:38,600 --> 00:01:41,120 [Duchovny] Then, in 1959, Israeli intelligence gets 36 00:01:41,240 --> 00:01:44,080 a credible tip that Eichmann is living a quiet life 37 00:01:44,200 --> 00:01:46,440 in a suburb of Buenos Aires. 38 00:01:46,560 --> 00:01:48,880 - The lead comes from a German refugee 39 00:01:49,000 --> 00:01:50,520 living in Argentina. 40 00:01:50,640 --> 00:01:52,640 Now, this guy's daughter has been dating a guy 41 00:01:52,760 --> 00:01:54,880 who keeps bragging that his dad used to have 42 00:01:55,000 --> 00:01:57,440 a really powerful position in Nazi Germany. 43 00:01:57,560 --> 00:02:00,800 And the dad's name is Ricardo Klement. 44 00:02:00,920 --> 00:02:03,960 But the son goes by the name Eichmann. 45 00:02:04,080 --> 00:02:05,680 - The Israeli government gets word of the fact 46 00:02:05,800 --> 00:02:08,320 that this person is possibly Adolf Eichmann. 47 00:02:08,440 --> 00:02:10,240 If there's anyone left who can be 48 00:02:10,360 --> 00:02:12,480 brought to justice for the crimes of the Holocaust, 49 00:02:12,600 --> 00:02:14,080 this is the man. 50 00:02:14,200 --> 00:02:15,480 [Duchovny] There's one big obstacle 51 00:02:15,600 --> 00:02:17,440 to bringing him in: Argentina. 52 00:02:17,560 --> 00:02:19,400 [Sami] Israel and Argentina don't have 53 00:02:19,520 --> 00:02:21,120 a working extradition agreement, 54 00:02:21,240 --> 00:02:23,720 and Argentina has a fascist-friendly government. 55 00:02:23,840 --> 00:02:25,280 So if Klement is Eichmann, 56 00:02:25,400 --> 00:02:27,160 there's no way the Argentinian government 57 00:02:27,280 --> 00:02:29,040 is just gonna hand him over. 58 00:02:29,160 --> 00:02:32,680 [Duchovny] To get their man, Mossad decides to go rogue. 59 00:02:32,800 --> 00:02:34,360 [Andrew] A top secret group of Mossad agents 60 00:02:34,480 --> 00:02:36,040 is sent to Argentina. 61 00:02:36,160 --> 00:02:38,640 Their mission is to seek out Klement and confirm that 62 00:02:38,760 --> 00:02:40,720 he is the same person as Eichmann. 63 00:02:40,840 --> 00:02:43,920 And if he is, to kidnap him and bring him to Israel. 64 00:02:44,040 --> 00:02:46,000 - You're not allowed to do that kind of thing. 65 00:02:46,120 --> 00:02:49,080 That is a blatant disregard for the sovereignty 66 00:02:49,200 --> 00:02:50,760 of another country. 67 00:02:50,880 --> 00:02:53,960 [Duchovny] First, the Mossad team stalks their prey. 68 00:02:54,080 --> 00:02:56,520 - They position agents all along Klement's daily route 69 00:02:56,640 --> 00:02:58,600 to his job at a Mercedes-Benz plant, 70 00:02:58,720 --> 00:03:00,760 and they snap photographs using cameras 71 00:03:00,880 --> 00:03:02,560 cleverly hidden inside briefcases. 72 00:03:02,680 --> 00:03:04,480 - Their plan is to compare the pictures 73 00:03:04,600 --> 00:03:07,360 they take in Argentina against wartime photos of Eichmann. 74 00:03:07,480 --> 00:03:10,560 [Duchovny] Getting an image of Klement is easy. 75 00:03:10,680 --> 00:03:13,480 The hard part is finding a picture of Eichmann. 76 00:03:13,600 --> 00:03:16,880 - Toward the close of the war, Eichmann deliberately destroyed 77 00:03:17,000 --> 00:03:18,880 every photograph he had of himself. 78 00:03:19,000 --> 00:03:21,200 Mossad have some grainy photographs 79 00:03:21,320 --> 00:03:24,480 from the pre-war period, but what they are lacking 80 00:03:24,600 --> 00:03:27,640 is a photograph that will provide a good view 81 00:03:27,760 --> 00:03:29,480 of his facial features. 82 00:03:29,600 --> 00:03:32,520 [Duchovny] This is a problem Mossad manages to solve. 83 00:03:32,640 --> 00:03:34,440 [Andrew] After the war, one agent 84 00:03:34,560 --> 00:03:36,840 seduced Eichmann's previous girlfriend. 85 00:03:36,960 --> 00:03:39,200 And in her personal albums, they were able to find 86 00:03:39,320 --> 00:03:41,000 a picture of Eichmann from the war. 87 00:03:41,120 --> 00:03:42,760 [Duchovny] To tell if these snaps 88 00:03:42,880 --> 00:03:46,040 taken over 20 years apart are the same man, 89 00:03:46,160 --> 00:03:48,920 the Mossad team hones in on the one feature 90 00:03:49,040 --> 00:03:51,920 that barely changes with age: the ear. 91 00:03:52,040 --> 00:03:55,400 [Sami] The curves and ridges of the human ear 92 00:03:55,520 --> 00:03:58,360 are as distinct as a fingerprint, so Mossad overlays 93 00:03:58,480 --> 00:04:01,080 the two photos and runs a painstaking 94 00:04:01,200 --> 00:04:02,880 ten-point comparison. 95 00:04:03,000 --> 00:04:06,240 And they discover that the two men have an exact match. 96 00:04:06,360 --> 00:04:09,280 Ricardo Klement is Adolf Eichmann. 97 00:04:09,400 --> 00:04:12,400 [Duchovny] Now, Mossad needs to capture him. 98 00:04:12,520 --> 00:04:14,280 [Dan] On the evening of May 11th, 99 00:04:14,400 --> 00:04:16,640 as Eichmann steps off his usual bus home, 100 00:04:16,760 --> 00:04:19,880 a man approaches him casually and says, "Momentito, señor." 101 00:04:20,000 --> 00:04:22,079 Eichmann turns, and in that instant, 102 00:04:22,200 --> 00:04:24,960 he's tackled and dragged into a waiting car. 103 00:04:25,080 --> 00:04:26,840 [Andrew] He is taken to a safe house 104 00:04:26,960 --> 00:04:28,560 on the outskirts of town. 105 00:04:28,680 --> 00:04:31,200 There, he is interrogated, and he ultimately 106 00:04:31,320 --> 00:04:33,400 admits that he is Eichmann. 107 00:04:33,520 --> 00:04:36,240 [Duchovny] Capturing Adolf Eichmann is one thing. 108 00:04:36,360 --> 00:04:38,000 Sneaking him out of the country 109 00:04:38,120 --> 00:04:40,720 without the Argentinian authorities realizing, 110 00:04:40,840 --> 00:04:42,400 that's quite another. 111 00:04:42,520 --> 00:04:46,720 To do that, the Mossad team crafts a daring escape plan. 112 00:04:46,840 --> 00:04:50,640 - In ten days, a large official Israeli delegation is scheduled 113 00:04:50,760 --> 00:04:52,240 to be in Buenos Aires. 114 00:04:52,360 --> 00:04:54,960 The agents' plan is to dress Eichmann 115 00:04:55,080 --> 00:04:58,000 in an airline crew uniform, blend him into that crowd, 116 00:04:58,120 --> 00:05:01,120 slip him past security, and fly home to Israel. 117 00:05:01,240 --> 00:05:03,520 - Before arriving at the airport, a doctor on the team 118 00:05:03,640 --> 00:05:05,480 heavily sedates Eichmann. 119 00:05:05,600 --> 00:05:07,320 They take him through the airport 120 00:05:07,440 --> 00:05:09,120 as part of their delegation, claiming that 121 00:05:09,240 --> 00:05:10,560 he's sick to everyone who's around. 122 00:05:10,680 --> 00:05:12,360 - When the Israeli team gets to customs, 123 00:05:12,480 --> 00:05:14,160 they have a fake passport. 124 00:05:14,280 --> 00:05:17,000 That document was made just a couple days ago, 125 00:05:17,120 --> 00:05:19,120 and they've done their best to dirty it and crease it 126 00:05:19,240 --> 00:05:21,240 so it looks like a well-worn passport, 127 00:05:21,360 --> 00:05:23,000 but they don't know if it's going to work. 128 00:05:23,120 --> 00:05:25,320 [Andrew] It's almost as if the Border Patrol officer 129 00:05:25,440 --> 00:05:27,240 can sense that something isn't right. 130 00:05:27,320 --> 00:05:29,400 ♪ ♪ 131 00:05:29,520 --> 00:05:32,320 But ultimately, he clears the group to get on the plane. 132 00:05:32,440 --> 00:05:35,480 [Duchovny] At 12:05 on May 21st, 133 00:05:35,600 --> 00:05:38,320 the plane takes off carrying Eichmann. 134 00:05:38,440 --> 00:05:42,040 Two days later, Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion 135 00:05:42,160 --> 00:05:44,200 makes a stunning announcement. 136 00:05:44,320 --> 00:05:47,520 Adolf Eichmann is in Israel. 137 00:05:47,640 --> 00:05:50,000 - Argentina is beyond upset. 138 00:05:50,120 --> 00:05:52,280 They lodge a protest at the United Nations, 139 00:05:52,400 --> 00:05:55,320 accusing Israel of violating its national sovereignty 140 00:05:55,440 --> 00:05:57,520 and demand Eichmann's return. 141 00:05:57,640 --> 00:06:00,960 [Duchovny] Israel refuses, claiming private Nazi hunters 142 00:06:01,080 --> 00:06:02,880 carried out the operation. 143 00:06:03,000 --> 00:06:06,440 A year later, Eichmann finally faces justice. 144 00:06:06,560 --> 00:06:08,280 [Andrew] Eichmann is put on trial. 145 00:06:08,400 --> 00:06:11,240 Survivors of the Holocaust describe in detail 146 00:06:11,360 --> 00:06:14,720 the machines of murder that Eichmann helped construct. 147 00:06:14,840 --> 00:06:17,920 [Duchovny] He's found guilty of crimes against humanity. 148 00:06:18,040 --> 00:06:20,880 Then, on May 31, 1962, 149 00:06:21,000 --> 00:06:23,640 Eichmann is executed by hanging. 150 00:06:23,760 --> 00:06:26,440 Only after 50 years does Israel finally 151 00:06:26,560 --> 00:06:28,880 drop the pretense that Mossad had nothing 152 00:06:29,000 --> 00:06:30,400 to do with his capture. 153 00:06:30,520 --> 00:06:32,560 - In 2012, the full truth is revealed 154 00:06:32,680 --> 00:06:36,360 when Mossad opens its archives in an exhibition on Eichmann. 155 00:06:36,480 --> 00:06:38,280 They display the briefcase camera, 156 00:06:38,400 --> 00:06:41,480 the forged Israeli passport, and even the ear comparison 157 00:06:41,600 --> 00:06:44,120 that confirmed his identity. 158 00:06:44,240 --> 00:06:46,640 - Two decades after Mossad sneak Eichmann out 159 00:06:46,760 --> 00:06:51,320 of Argentina, the CIA begins its own smuggling operation 160 00:06:51,440 --> 00:06:54,960 to secretly funnel an eye-watering $2 billion 161 00:06:55,080 --> 00:06:57,520 into the hands of anti-Soviet fighters. 162 00:06:57,640 --> 00:06:59,640 What follows is the most expensive 163 00:06:59,760 --> 00:07:04,960 and most consequential illicit operation in U.S. history. 164 00:07:05,040 --> 00:07:08,640 ♪ ♪ 165 00:07:08,760 --> 00:07:12,560 - In December 1979, the Soviet Union launches a massive attack 166 00:07:12,680 --> 00:07:16,960 on Afghanistan to prop up the Communist government 167 00:07:17,080 --> 00:07:20,000 by sending close to 100,000 troops. 168 00:07:20,120 --> 00:07:22,800 The Soviets seize the cities quickly, 169 00:07:22,920 --> 00:07:25,320 but out in the remote rural expanses, 170 00:07:25,440 --> 00:07:27,120 it's a whole different story. 171 00:07:27,240 --> 00:07:29,280 There, a coalition of Islamist fighters 172 00:07:29,400 --> 00:07:33,040 called the Mujahideen hold their ground guerilla style. 173 00:07:33,160 --> 00:07:35,480 [Duchovny] The CIA spots an opportunity. 174 00:07:35,600 --> 00:07:37,440 If they can drag out this fight, 175 00:07:37,560 --> 00:07:40,680 they could drain the power and resources of the Soviet Army. 176 00:07:40,800 --> 00:07:43,120 So they kickstart Operation Cyclone 177 00:07:43,240 --> 00:07:45,000 to support the Mujahideen. 178 00:07:45,120 --> 00:07:47,440 The problem is, finding any guerrilla force 179 00:07:47,560 --> 00:07:51,200 fighting the Soviet Army risks igniting World War III, 180 00:07:51,320 --> 00:07:54,920 and these are some highly controversial new allies. 181 00:07:55,040 --> 00:07:58,160 - The Mujahideen is funded by the narcotics trade 182 00:07:58,280 --> 00:08:00,440 and are religious fundamentalists 183 00:08:00,560 --> 00:08:03,240 who hold very anti-Western views. 184 00:08:03,360 --> 00:08:06,800 - Funding fundamentalist narco barons? 185 00:08:06,920 --> 00:08:08,640 Kind of a tough sell on Capitol Hill. 186 00:08:08,760 --> 00:08:10,320 [Duchovny] To help win Congress's approval 187 00:08:10,440 --> 00:08:13,240 for this rogue operation, the CIA teams up 188 00:08:13,360 --> 00:08:14,920 with an unlikely ally. 189 00:08:15,040 --> 00:08:18,440 - The CIA turns to Texas Congressman Charlie Wilson. 190 00:08:18,560 --> 00:08:21,360 He's this heavy drinking womanizer, 191 00:08:21,480 --> 00:08:23,920 but he's also politically savvy. 192 00:08:24,040 --> 00:08:26,640 - Wilson's influence manages to massively inflate 193 00:08:26,760 --> 00:08:29,680 the CIA's budget for Operation Cyclone. 194 00:08:29,800 --> 00:08:32,960 - With Wilson's help, the budget for Operation Cyclone 195 00:08:33,080 --> 00:08:37,799 balloons from $5 million to more than $30 million by 1983. 196 00:08:37,919 --> 00:08:40,360 But to defeat a superpower, the Mujahideen 197 00:08:40,480 --> 00:08:42,320 needs more than just money. 198 00:08:42,440 --> 00:08:47,800 They need something the CIA can't send them: firepower. 199 00:08:47,920 --> 00:08:49,400 [Greg] If the CIA flooded 200 00:08:49,520 --> 00:08:51,160 American weapons into Afghanistan, 201 00:08:51,280 --> 00:08:52,800 that would be an open provocation 202 00:08:52,920 --> 00:08:53,840 against the Soviets. 203 00:08:53,960 --> 00:08:56,040 Also, the Mujahideen 204 00:08:56,160 --> 00:08:58,200 don't know how to use American weaponry. 205 00:08:58,320 --> 00:09:00,040 They are trained on Soviet weapons. 206 00:09:00,160 --> 00:09:01,440 [O'Keefe] Somehow the Americans have to get 207 00:09:01,560 --> 00:09:04,200 their hands on a cache of Soviet weapons 208 00:09:04,320 --> 00:09:06,200 that can't be traced back to them. 209 00:09:06,320 --> 00:09:08,760 [Duchovny] In 1983, this challenge is handed 210 00:09:08,880 --> 00:09:13,280 to a renegade CIA agent, a man named Gust Avrakotos, 211 00:09:13,400 --> 00:09:16,280 also known as "Dr. Dirty." 212 00:09:16,400 --> 00:09:20,040 - Avrakotos is a blunt, foul-mouthed agency fixer, 213 00:09:20,160 --> 00:09:21,960 known for bending the rules. 214 00:09:22,080 --> 00:09:24,360 He knows that Egypt has recently switched 215 00:09:24,480 --> 00:09:27,320 its alignment from the USSR to the U.S. 216 00:09:27,440 --> 00:09:31,000 - Avrakotos feels there could be a massive supply 217 00:09:31,120 --> 00:09:33,800 of Soviet weapons in Egypt. 218 00:09:33,920 --> 00:09:35,760 [Duchovny] So he flies to Cairo, 219 00:09:35,880 --> 00:09:37,960 where he gets the red carpet treatment 220 00:09:38,080 --> 00:09:41,640 thanks to Congressman Charlie Wilson. 221 00:09:41,760 --> 00:09:43,400 [Sami] The Egyptians have already been softened up 222 00:09:43,520 --> 00:09:46,200 by a visit from Wilson, who allegedly brought 223 00:09:46,320 --> 00:09:48,440 his own personal belly dancer to perform 224 00:09:48,560 --> 00:09:50,280 for the defense minister. 225 00:09:50,400 --> 00:09:52,360 Whatever it is she did during that dance, 226 00:09:52,480 --> 00:09:53,920 it seems to have worked. 227 00:09:54,000 --> 00:09:56,160 ♪ ♪ 228 00:09:56,280 --> 00:10:00,480 - The defense minister gives Avrakotos a personal VIP tour 229 00:10:00,600 --> 00:10:04,000 of all the Egyptian defense installations 230 00:10:04,120 --> 00:10:05,800 that house the Soviet matériel. 231 00:10:05,920 --> 00:10:07,520 [Duchovny] Amongst this hoard of weaponry, 232 00:10:07,640 --> 00:10:10,720 Gust spots a weapon that could truly tip the scales-- 233 00:10:10,840 --> 00:10:13,880 54 Katyusha rocket launchers. 234 00:10:14,000 --> 00:10:17,640 [Sasha] The Katyusha is a 122-millimeter rocket 235 00:10:17,760 --> 00:10:21,240 that would give the Mujahideen long-range firepower 236 00:10:21,360 --> 00:10:24,240 for the very first time. 237 00:10:24,360 --> 00:10:27,960 Now, it's not accurate enough to take out helicopters, 238 00:10:28,080 --> 00:10:31,280 but it can hit the Soviet bases that they fly from. 239 00:10:31,400 --> 00:10:34,800 - Avrakotos buys everything the Egyptians have. 240 00:10:34,920 --> 00:10:38,840 His next challenge is to get these weapons over 2,000 miles 241 00:10:38,960 --> 00:10:40,680 from Egypt to Afghanistan. 242 00:10:40,800 --> 00:10:43,480 [Duchovny] Believe it or not, the best way to get 243 00:10:43,600 --> 00:10:46,080 a rocket launcher to Afghanistan undetected 244 00:10:46,200 --> 00:10:49,800 is to strap it to a camel. 245 00:10:49,920 --> 00:10:52,840 - Gust engineers a massive covert supply chain. 246 00:10:52,960 --> 00:10:55,480 First, ships carry the arms from Egypt 247 00:10:55,600 --> 00:10:58,240 through the Suez Canal into Pakistan. 248 00:10:58,360 --> 00:11:01,000 And then the weapons complete the journey over the border 249 00:11:01,120 --> 00:11:04,480 into Afghanistan on traditional camel caravans. 250 00:11:04,600 --> 00:11:07,520 - At its height, some 300,000 guerrillas 251 00:11:07,640 --> 00:11:10,040 wield CIA-sourced weapons. 252 00:11:10,160 --> 00:11:12,760 [Duchovny] By the late 1980s, the CIA 253 00:11:12,880 --> 00:11:15,200 is channeling over $600 million 254 00:11:15,320 --> 00:11:17,160 annually into Afghanistan. 255 00:11:17,280 --> 00:11:21,120 This flood of cash and arms turns the tide. 256 00:11:21,240 --> 00:11:22,960 The Soviet Union officially withdraws 257 00:11:23,080 --> 00:11:25,680 on February 15, 1989. 258 00:11:25,800 --> 00:11:28,680 - The drain on the Soviets was immense. 259 00:11:28,800 --> 00:11:33,480 Billions were spent, 15,000 Soviet soldiers died, 260 00:11:33,600 --> 00:11:36,680 and scholars say this was one of the pressure points 261 00:11:36,800 --> 00:11:39,040 that eventually led to the collapse 262 00:11:39,160 --> 00:11:40,840 of the Soviet Union. 263 00:11:40,960 --> 00:11:43,280 [Duchovny] The full story of Operation Cyclone 264 00:11:43,400 --> 00:11:46,840 remains a secret until 2003, when one journalist 265 00:11:46,960 --> 00:11:50,240 named George Crile pieces together the whole mission. 266 00:11:50,360 --> 00:11:52,160 - George Crile is a Middle East reporter 267 00:11:52,280 --> 00:11:54,000 who spends 15 years 268 00:11:54,120 --> 00:11:56,120 investigating Operation Cyclone. 269 00:11:56,240 --> 00:11:58,160 He interviews everyone involved, 270 00:11:58,280 --> 00:12:00,680 including Avrakotos and Charlie Wilson. 271 00:12:00,800 --> 00:12:03,200 [Sami] And in 2003, he publishes the book 272 00:12:03,320 --> 00:12:05,560 "Charlie Wilson's War," revealing the whole 273 00:12:05,680 --> 00:12:07,960 tangled truth for the first time. 274 00:12:08,080 --> 00:12:10,360 [Duchovny] These revelations expose that many 275 00:12:10,480 --> 00:12:13,560 of the Mujahideen the U.S. fight in 2001 276 00:12:13,680 --> 00:12:17,320 are the same as those they armed 22 years earlier. 277 00:12:20,360 --> 00:12:22,360 - When 11 of its athletes are murdered 278 00:12:22,480 --> 00:12:26,800 at the Munich Olympics, Israel hunts the perpetrators down, 279 00:12:26,920 --> 00:12:30,000 not through the courts but in the shadows, 280 00:12:30,120 --> 00:12:32,280 with an extreme vengeance mission 281 00:12:32,400 --> 00:12:35,080 that breaks all international laws. 282 00:12:35,200 --> 00:12:37,920 [suspenseful music] 283 00:12:38,040 --> 00:12:40,440 [Sami] The 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany, 284 00:12:40,560 --> 00:12:42,400 becomes a horror show. 285 00:12:42,520 --> 00:12:44,800 A Palestinian group called Black September 286 00:12:44,920 --> 00:12:47,440 storms the Olympic Village and takes 11 Israeli 287 00:12:47,560 --> 00:12:50,160 athletes and coaches hostage. 288 00:12:50,280 --> 00:12:52,240 It ends in a bloody shootout on an airfield, 289 00:12:52,360 --> 00:12:54,440 and all the hostages are killed. 290 00:12:54,560 --> 00:12:56,760 For Israel's security services, Mossad, 291 00:12:56,880 --> 00:12:58,200 it's a massive intelligence failure 292 00:12:58,320 --> 00:13:00,120 because it was their job to prevent something 293 00:13:00,240 --> 00:13:01,800 like this from ever happening. 294 00:13:01,920 --> 00:13:04,640 [Duchovny] Israel's prime minister, Golda Meir, 295 00:13:04,760 --> 00:13:08,840 publicly vows revenge, and she wants it by any means. 296 00:13:08,960 --> 00:13:10,880 - Israel doesn't have extradition relationships 297 00:13:11,000 --> 00:13:12,640 with the countries that are definitely 298 00:13:12,760 --> 00:13:15,000 going to be harboring the perpetrators of this crime. 299 00:13:15,120 --> 00:13:17,320 The traditional path of justice will 300 00:13:17,440 --> 00:13:19,080 get her absolutely nowhere. 301 00:13:19,200 --> 00:13:22,280 - So she orders the chief of Mossad to plan a series 302 00:13:22,400 --> 00:13:25,280 of extrajudicial revenge hits. 303 00:13:25,400 --> 00:13:28,360 [Duchovny] For Israel, this isn't just about justice. 304 00:13:28,480 --> 00:13:31,360 It's sending a message: "If you kill Israelis, 305 00:13:31,480 --> 00:13:33,480 you won't walk away." 306 00:13:33,600 --> 00:13:35,120 The rogue mission's codename? 307 00:13:35,240 --> 00:13:37,560 Operation Wrath of God. 308 00:13:37,680 --> 00:13:40,520 - Mossad draw up a kill list of the key terrorists. 309 00:13:40,640 --> 00:13:43,160 But these men are scattered all across the globe, 310 00:13:43,280 --> 00:13:44,600 often living under aliases. 311 00:13:44,720 --> 00:13:46,360 - To hunt them, Mossad needs the most 312 00:13:46,480 --> 00:13:48,960 up-to-date and reliable intel on their movements. 313 00:13:49,080 --> 00:13:52,280 [Duchovny] To help, Israel has a backdoor channel 314 00:13:52,400 --> 00:13:54,960 to a vast European intelligence network. 315 00:13:55,080 --> 00:13:58,000 - At the time, there's this semi-secret coalition 316 00:13:58,120 --> 00:14:00,200 of Western European spy agencies 317 00:14:00,320 --> 00:14:02,040 called the Club de Berne. 318 00:14:02,160 --> 00:14:04,320 Its purpose is to share information 319 00:14:04,440 --> 00:14:06,440 on terrorist threats across the continent. 320 00:14:06,560 --> 00:14:09,160 Israel has access to its telegram system, 321 00:14:09,280 --> 00:14:12,160 which supplies live data on passports, 322 00:14:12,280 --> 00:14:14,000 hotel registries, and surveillance. 323 00:14:14,120 --> 00:14:15,720 [Greg] Using the intelligence flowing 324 00:14:15,840 --> 00:14:17,880 from the Club de Berne, Mossad tracks down 325 00:14:18,000 --> 00:14:19,560 every target on their list. 326 00:14:19,680 --> 00:14:22,080 They build a series of compact mobile kill teams 327 00:14:22,200 --> 00:14:24,120 from their most elite commando unit. 328 00:14:24,240 --> 00:14:27,080 [Duchovny] Now these teams head out across Europe 329 00:14:27,200 --> 00:14:30,200 to eliminate those behind the Munich attack 330 00:14:30,320 --> 00:14:33,200 and strike the fear of God into any other terrorist 331 00:14:33,320 --> 00:14:35,280 who might threaten Israel. 332 00:14:35,400 --> 00:14:37,920 [Don] The first target is Wael Zwaiter, 333 00:14:38,040 --> 00:14:40,000 the PLO's representative in Rome, 334 00:14:40,120 --> 00:14:41,600 believed to be a key facilitator 335 00:14:41,720 --> 00:14:43,280 for the Munich massacre. 336 00:14:43,400 --> 00:14:45,000 As he returns to his apartment building, 337 00:14:45,120 --> 00:14:47,520 two figures step out of the shadows. 338 00:14:47,640 --> 00:14:49,280 [gunshots] [Martin] They gun him down. 339 00:14:49,400 --> 00:14:52,440 They shoot him 11 times, one bullet for each victim 340 00:14:52,560 --> 00:14:53,880 of the Munich massacre. 341 00:14:54,000 --> 00:14:56,320 [Duchovny] The message is sent. 342 00:14:56,440 --> 00:15:00,720 Next, Mahmoud al-Hamshari. 343 00:15:00,840 --> 00:15:03,360 Killed when his phone explodes in his hand. 344 00:15:03,480 --> 00:15:06,720 Then Mohamed Boudia, killed by a car bomb. 345 00:15:06,840 --> 00:15:08,440 [explosion] 346 00:15:08,560 --> 00:15:12,320 By the summer of 1973, 11 are dead. 347 00:15:12,440 --> 00:15:15,200 - After each hit, the Mossad uses the Club de Berne intel 348 00:15:15,320 --> 00:15:17,080 to monitor the aftermath. 349 00:15:17,200 --> 00:15:19,320 They read the reports from European agencies, 350 00:15:19,440 --> 00:15:22,800 and this allows them to stay one step ahead. 351 00:15:22,920 --> 00:15:26,120 [Duchovny] Then, in July 1973, the agents believe 352 00:15:26,240 --> 00:15:28,720 they've located their biggest target of all. 353 00:15:28,840 --> 00:15:31,760 - Ali Hassan Salameh is the alleged mastermind 354 00:15:31,880 --> 00:15:33,600 of the Munich massacre. 355 00:15:33,720 --> 00:15:36,120 They get a tip that he is in the town 356 00:15:36,240 --> 00:15:38,080 of Lillehammer, Norway, 357 00:15:38,200 --> 00:15:40,560 and start preparing an operation. 358 00:15:40,680 --> 00:15:43,400 - The Lillehammer hit is a particular challenge. 359 00:15:43,520 --> 00:15:46,240 Mossad has no established network 360 00:15:46,360 --> 00:15:48,440 in Norway, no safe houses. 361 00:15:48,560 --> 00:15:50,960 Add to that, the intel is thin. 362 00:15:51,080 --> 00:15:54,560 It's all based on a single grainy photograph of a man 363 00:15:54,680 --> 00:15:56,840 that they think is Salameh. 364 00:15:56,960 --> 00:15:59,040 [Martin] Mossad has a team on location, 365 00:15:59,160 --> 00:16:01,640 and one night, they spot a man at a bus stop 366 00:16:01,760 --> 00:16:03,480 who looks like the target. 367 00:16:03,600 --> 00:16:05,680 They follow him and then gun him down. 368 00:16:05,800 --> 00:16:07,520 [gunshot] 369 00:16:07,640 --> 00:16:09,960 It turns out this man is not Salameh. 370 00:16:10,080 --> 00:16:13,680 It's a Moroccan waiter by the name of Ahmed Bouchiki. 371 00:16:13,800 --> 00:16:15,640 [Duchovny] It's a catastrophic error. 372 00:16:15,760 --> 00:16:17,560 And it's about to get worse for the Mossad. 373 00:16:17,680 --> 00:16:19,880 Their escape plan falls apart. 374 00:16:20,000 --> 00:16:23,080 - The team have used credit cards in their own names, 375 00:16:23,200 --> 00:16:25,000 so police trace them easily. 376 00:16:25,120 --> 00:16:27,800 Norwegian authorities quickly round up the Mossad agents 377 00:16:27,920 --> 00:16:29,960 and convict five of them in court. 378 00:16:30,080 --> 00:16:32,920 [Duchovny] The fallout is a public relations disaster. 379 00:16:33,040 --> 00:16:36,120 Israel's kill list is exposed to the world, 380 00:16:36,240 --> 00:16:38,880 forcing them to halt their entire operation. 381 00:16:39,000 --> 00:16:42,240 But behind the scenes, Mossad's secret access 382 00:16:42,360 --> 00:16:44,120 to the Club de Berne remains, 383 00:16:44,240 --> 00:16:46,880 leaving the door open for Israel to finish the job. 384 00:16:46,960 --> 00:16:50,120 ♪ ♪ 385 00:16:50,240 --> 00:16:52,280 [Greg] Six years later, Israel reactivates 386 00:16:52,400 --> 00:16:55,560 Operation Wrath of God for one last hit. 387 00:16:55,680 --> 00:16:58,680 Fresh intelligence locates Ali Hassan Salameh. 388 00:16:58,800 --> 00:17:00,160 He's in Beirut. 389 00:17:00,280 --> 00:17:02,440 And this time, they're certain it's him. 390 00:17:02,560 --> 00:17:07,119 - On January 22nd, Salameh drives down a bustling street. 391 00:17:07,240 --> 00:17:08,800 [explosion] 392 00:17:08,920 --> 00:17:10,720 A car bomb in a parked Volkswagen 393 00:17:10,839 --> 00:17:13,960 kills Salameh and eight other people. 394 00:17:14,079 --> 00:17:15,319 [Duchovny] Salameh's death 395 00:17:15,440 --> 00:17:18,040 brings Wrath of God to a close. 396 00:17:18,160 --> 00:17:20,599 For decades, Europe's intelligence services 397 00:17:20,720 --> 00:17:23,079 are not suspected to have any connection 398 00:17:23,200 --> 00:17:25,480 to this illicit killing spree. 399 00:17:25,599 --> 00:17:27,280 That changes in 2018. 400 00:17:27,400 --> 00:17:29,760 [Martin] Swiss historian Aviva Guttmann 401 00:17:29,880 --> 00:17:32,000 is looking into the matter of this Club de Berne 402 00:17:32,120 --> 00:17:34,880 anti-terrorist network, and she wants 403 00:17:35,000 --> 00:17:36,760 to see the telegram system. 404 00:17:36,880 --> 00:17:39,000 - Archivists give her access to a host 405 00:17:39,120 --> 00:17:40,840 of sensitive intelligence files. 406 00:17:40,960 --> 00:17:42,520 They probably didn't realize what they were sharing, 407 00:17:42,640 --> 00:17:45,280 because in these files is definitive proof 408 00:17:45,400 --> 00:17:48,160 that Europe was sharing intelligence with Israel 409 00:17:48,280 --> 00:17:50,400 and supporting one of the most terrifying 410 00:17:50,520 --> 00:17:53,480 state-sponsored assassination operations. 411 00:17:53,600 --> 00:17:57,360 [Duchovny] In 2025, Guttmann reveals the truth to the world 412 00:17:57,480 --> 00:17:59,200 in a bombshell book. 413 00:18:02,600 --> 00:18:04,280 - They say cheaters never prosper. 414 00:18:04,400 --> 00:18:05,960 But in World War II, Winston Churchill 415 00:18:06,080 --> 00:18:09,560 greenlights a mission that breaks all the rules of war. 416 00:18:09,680 --> 00:18:11,800 To shatter the Nazis' power at sea, 417 00:18:11,920 --> 00:18:14,480 he sends a secret unit of saboteurs 418 00:18:14,600 --> 00:18:16,320 to raid a neutral island. 419 00:18:16,400 --> 00:18:18,560 ♪ ♪ 420 00:18:18,680 --> 00:18:21,400 [Sami] In 1941, Britain feels like it's losing 421 00:18:21,520 --> 00:18:22,960 the Battle of the Atlantic. 422 00:18:23,080 --> 00:18:25,240 Nazi U-boats are decimating the convoys 423 00:18:25,360 --> 00:18:27,400 that are carrying food, fuel, and troops 424 00:18:27,520 --> 00:18:29,520 vital for the Allied war effort. 425 00:18:29,640 --> 00:18:33,440 - By the end of 1941, almost 400 Allied and neutral 426 00:18:33,560 --> 00:18:36,240 merchant vessels have been sent to the bottom of the Atlantic. 427 00:18:36,360 --> 00:18:39,280 [Duchovny] Then, British receive intelligence reports 428 00:18:39,400 --> 00:18:42,240 from Fernando Po, a tiny island 429 00:18:42,360 --> 00:18:44,960 off the Coast of Africa that reveal a critical 430 00:18:45,080 --> 00:18:46,720 chance to fight back. 431 00:18:46,800 --> 00:18:48,840 ♪ ♪ 432 00:18:48,960 --> 00:18:50,840 [O'Keefe] British intelligence discovers that the Germans 433 00:18:50,960 --> 00:18:55,680 are gonna use Fernando Po as a sort of off-the-books 434 00:18:55,800 --> 00:18:58,600 refueling site where they can refuel and restock 435 00:18:58,720 --> 00:19:01,560 their U-boats and get them back into the fight quickly. 436 00:19:01,680 --> 00:19:03,760 [Dan] They believe three vessels 437 00:19:03,880 --> 00:19:06,040 in Fernando Po's harbor are crucial 438 00:19:06,160 --> 00:19:07,840 to the German resupply operation. 439 00:19:07,960 --> 00:19:11,400 The ships consist of an Italian merchant ship 440 00:19:11,520 --> 00:19:14,040 and two German tugboats. 441 00:19:14,160 --> 00:19:15,840 [Duchovny] Taking out these three boats 442 00:19:15,960 --> 00:19:19,080 could cripple the Nazi supply chain in the Atlantic. 443 00:19:19,200 --> 00:19:20,960 But there's a problem. 444 00:19:21,080 --> 00:19:23,400 Fernando Po belongs to Spain. 445 00:19:23,520 --> 00:19:25,240 [Dan] Spain is officially neutral, 446 00:19:25,360 --> 00:19:27,000 but its fascist leader, General Franco, 447 00:19:27,120 --> 00:19:28,840 is very friendly with Hitler. 448 00:19:28,960 --> 00:19:32,000 So the British know that if they launch a military strike 449 00:19:32,120 --> 00:19:34,560 in Spanish territory, that would be 450 00:19:34,680 --> 00:19:36,120 a breach of international law 451 00:19:36,240 --> 00:19:40,320 and would almost certainly draw Spain into the war 452 00:19:40,440 --> 00:19:42,000 on the side of the Nazis. 453 00:19:42,120 --> 00:19:45,680 And that would be a disaster for Britain. 454 00:19:45,800 --> 00:19:48,240 [Duchovny] So to take out these ships, 455 00:19:48,360 --> 00:19:52,080 Winston Churchill greenlights a more underhanded strike. 456 00:19:52,200 --> 00:19:55,040 - Churchill decides that, to beat the Nazis, 457 00:19:55,160 --> 00:19:56,960 Britain has to fight dirty. 458 00:19:57,080 --> 00:19:59,880 So he forms a new top secret team, 459 00:20:00,000 --> 00:20:02,480 essentially one of the world's first special forces, 460 00:20:02,600 --> 00:20:06,600 the Small Scale Raiding Force, the SSRF. 461 00:20:06,720 --> 00:20:08,880 [Duchovny] At the time, Churchill calls them 462 00:20:09,000 --> 00:20:12,920 something else: his Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare. 463 00:20:13,040 --> 00:20:14,800 Their first mission? 464 00:20:14,920 --> 00:20:17,480 A secret raid to steal the three Axis ships 465 00:20:17,600 --> 00:20:19,680 lying in Fernando Po's harbor, 466 00:20:19,800 --> 00:20:22,880 codenamed Operation Postmaster. 467 00:20:23,000 --> 00:20:26,360 [Sami] The SSRF devises a plan that, when you look at it, 468 00:20:26,480 --> 00:20:28,960 it's just piracy, plain and simple. 469 00:20:29,080 --> 00:20:32,280 A raiding team of around 30 mercenaries that are mostly 470 00:20:32,400 --> 00:20:35,440 recruited from nearby Nigeria will sneak into the harbor, 471 00:20:35,560 --> 00:20:38,880 hijack the ships, and tow them out to international waters 472 00:20:39,000 --> 00:20:42,200 where the Royal Navy can "stumble" across them 473 00:20:42,320 --> 00:20:43,720 and legally seize them. 474 00:20:43,840 --> 00:20:45,400 [Duchovny] To prepare for the raid, 475 00:20:45,520 --> 00:20:49,440 a handful of SSRF agents quietly slip onto the island. 476 00:20:49,560 --> 00:20:52,200 [Martin] But they realize that they're going to need 477 00:20:52,320 --> 00:20:54,120 some aerial photography of the harbor 478 00:20:54,240 --> 00:20:55,920 where the boats are anchored. 479 00:20:56,040 --> 00:20:57,600 Well, it turns out that the territorial governor 480 00:20:57,720 --> 00:20:59,000 has an airplane. 481 00:20:59,120 --> 00:21:01,040 So they set up the circumstances 482 00:21:01,160 --> 00:21:03,240 whereby they are able to photograph 483 00:21:03,360 --> 00:21:06,240 the governor in a bathtub with his mistress. 484 00:21:06,360 --> 00:21:09,280 Using those photographs, they then bribe him 485 00:21:09,400 --> 00:21:11,640 into taking them up for a flight 486 00:21:11,760 --> 00:21:13,840 around the harbor, during which 487 00:21:13,960 --> 00:21:15,320 they take the needed photographs. 488 00:21:15,440 --> 00:21:17,440 [Duchovny] Next, the agents discover that, 489 00:21:17,560 --> 00:21:19,840 during the attack, the SSRF's raiders 490 00:21:19,960 --> 00:21:21,840 will be vastly outnumbered. 491 00:21:21,960 --> 00:21:25,200 So to even the odds, they throw a party. 492 00:21:25,320 --> 00:21:28,760 - The German and Italian officers love shore leave. 493 00:21:28,880 --> 00:21:32,880 So using local connections, the team organize this lavish bash 494 00:21:33,000 --> 00:21:34,160 on the night of the raid. 495 00:21:34,280 --> 00:21:36,720 Music, drinks, just the works. 496 00:21:36,840 --> 00:21:40,520 It's the perfect misdirection, except the only restaurant 497 00:21:40,640 --> 00:21:43,720 they can book has a perfect view of the harbor 498 00:21:43,840 --> 00:21:45,600 and all the target ships. 499 00:21:45,720 --> 00:21:47,560 But they solved the problem with the clever seating plan. 500 00:21:47,680 --> 00:21:50,720 The agents ensure every Axis officer 501 00:21:50,840 --> 00:21:52,560 is sat with his back to the sea, 502 00:21:52,680 --> 00:21:54,840 and with a beautiful woman opposite of him 503 00:21:54,960 --> 00:21:56,520 to hold his attention. 504 00:21:56,640 --> 00:21:58,800 - Never before in the history of the Second World War 505 00:21:58,920 --> 00:22:01,040 has a seating chart been 506 00:22:01,160 --> 00:22:04,120 a strategic piece of masterwork, but here it has. 507 00:22:04,240 --> 00:22:06,120 [Duchovny] Decoy in place, 508 00:22:06,240 --> 00:22:08,360 on January 14th, the mission begins. 509 00:22:08,480 --> 00:22:10,840 Any mistakes could bring Spain crashing 510 00:22:10,960 --> 00:22:13,600 into the war on Hitler's side. 511 00:22:13,720 --> 00:22:16,760 So the team is on their own. 512 00:22:16,880 --> 00:22:18,280 - London has made it crystal clear, 513 00:22:18,400 --> 00:22:20,960 if any of the raiding party are caught, 514 00:22:21,080 --> 00:22:24,720 they'll be disavowed and left to face the consequences alone. 515 00:22:24,840 --> 00:22:27,520 [Sami] As the distraction party gets into full swing, 516 00:22:27,640 --> 00:22:30,520 an operative on the island kills the lights. 517 00:22:30,640 --> 00:22:33,800 Two blacked out tugboats enter Fernando Po's harbor, 518 00:22:33,920 --> 00:22:35,400 carrying the 34 raiders. 519 00:22:35,520 --> 00:22:37,600 [Duchovny] In darkness, the raiders maneuver 520 00:22:37,720 --> 00:22:40,600 alongside their three targets. 521 00:22:40,720 --> 00:22:44,560 Now they announce their presence to the whole island. 522 00:22:44,680 --> 00:22:46,920 - The team blow the anchor chains 523 00:22:47,040 --> 00:22:49,160 off the three enemy ships. 524 00:22:49,280 --> 00:22:52,000 - In the chaos, the commandos board the enemy ships, 525 00:22:52,120 --> 00:22:54,560 taking the crews captive at gunpoint. 526 00:22:54,680 --> 00:22:56,960 Axis officers race from the party 527 00:22:57,080 --> 00:23:00,440 and arrive just in time to see their ships disappear 528 00:23:00,560 --> 00:23:02,160 into international waters. 529 00:23:02,280 --> 00:23:04,160 And a few days later, they're picked up 530 00:23:04,280 --> 00:23:07,400 or, rather, intercepted by a British warship. 531 00:23:07,520 --> 00:23:10,640 [Duchovny] Churchill's high stakes gamble has paid off. 532 00:23:10,760 --> 00:23:13,400 [Sami] London rolls out pre-written headlines, 533 00:23:13,520 --> 00:23:16,200 "Navy patrols on routine duty seized 534 00:23:16,320 --> 00:23:18,040 the three ships legally." 535 00:23:18,160 --> 00:23:21,240 The Spanish are furious over the incursion, 536 00:23:21,360 --> 00:23:23,040 but there's no proof that Britain 537 00:23:23,160 --> 00:23:24,960 has broken international law. 538 00:23:25,080 --> 00:23:26,480 [Martin] With this mission, 539 00:23:26,600 --> 00:23:28,480 Churchill is sending a powerful message. 540 00:23:28,600 --> 00:23:31,880 He is acknowledging that the Germans are bending the rules, 541 00:23:32,000 --> 00:23:35,320 and he's also telling them, I'm gonna bend the rules too. 542 00:23:35,440 --> 00:23:37,320 Two can play at that game. 543 00:23:37,440 --> 00:23:39,200 [Duchovny] For over 40 years, 544 00:23:39,320 --> 00:23:40,800 the British maintain the cover story. 545 00:23:40,920 --> 00:23:43,080 Only when Spain's fascist government 546 00:23:43,200 --> 00:23:45,520 is removed from power does British intelligence 547 00:23:45,640 --> 00:23:48,000 begin to declassify the truth. 548 00:23:48,120 --> 00:23:51,320 The astonishing story of Operation Postmaster 549 00:23:51,440 --> 00:23:52,640 is finally revealed. 550 00:23:55,880 --> 00:23:59,400 - All rogue missions ignore the rules. 551 00:23:59,520 --> 00:24:02,400 Our next story also ignores the risk. 552 00:24:02,520 --> 00:24:05,760 To uncover the horrors of a new Nazi prison camp, 553 00:24:05,880 --> 00:24:09,240 one spy walks inside willingly, 554 00:24:09,360 --> 00:24:12,120 then escapes it to tell the world what he saw. 555 00:24:12,240 --> 00:24:14,640 That camp is Auschwitz. 556 00:24:14,760 --> 00:24:17,360 [suspenseful music] 557 00:24:17,480 --> 00:24:19,160 [Greg] It's 1940. 558 00:24:19,280 --> 00:24:21,720 Poland has been occupied by Nazi 559 00:24:21,840 --> 00:24:23,480 and Soviet forces for about a year 560 00:24:23,600 --> 00:24:24,760 when whispers begin circulating 561 00:24:24,880 --> 00:24:26,680 about a new prison camp being built 562 00:24:26,800 --> 00:24:28,960 in the south near the town of Oswiecim. 563 00:24:29,080 --> 00:24:31,320 [Martin] Oswiecim will ultimately become known 564 00:24:31,440 --> 00:24:33,280 as the concentration camp 565 00:24:33,400 --> 00:24:35,440 and then eventually the extermination center 566 00:24:35,560 --> 00:24:37,120 of Auschwitz-Birkenau. 567 00:24:37,240 --> 00:24:38,800 - Auschwitz is synonymous with evil. 568 00:24:38,920 --> 00:24:40,960 It's the epicenter of the Holocaust, 569 00:24:41,080 --> 00:24:43,720 where over a million people were systematically murdered. 570 00:24:43,840 --> 00:24:46,200 [Duchovny] But back in mid-1940, 571 00:24:46,320 --> 00:24:50,440 the name of this camp and its true purpose is a mystery. 572 00:24:50,560 --> 00:24:52,560 [Don] All the Polish people know 573 00:24:52,680 --> 00:24:55,840 is that the Germans have taken over some old army barracks 574 00:24:55,960 --> 00:24:59,000 and converted them into a detention facility. 575 00:24:59,120 --> 00:25:01,480 But when the first prisoners arrive there, 576 00:25:01,600 --> 00:25:04,360 alarming reports start to leak out. 577 00:25:04,480 --> 00:25:07,280 There are tales of murder, torture, 578 00:25:07,400 --> 00:25:08,920 and horrific experiments. 579 00:25:09,040 --> 00:25:11,240 [Duchovny] The Polish resistance decides 580 00:25:11,360 --> 00:25:13,000 it needs urgent answers about what's going on 581 00:25:13,120 --> 00:25:14,680 behind the barbed wire. 582 00:25:14,800 --> 00:25:18,400 So one 39-year-old officer named Witold Pilecki 583 00:25:18,520 --> 00:25:20,680 volunteers for an incredible mission. 584 00:25:20,800 --> 00:25:22,920 - Witold Pilecki is a former army lieutenant 585 00:25:23,040 --> 00:25:25,640 who hates the Nazis and will stop 586 00:25:25,760 --> 00:25:27,680 at nothing to sabotage them. 587 00:25:27,800 --> 00:25:31,040 He literally volunteers to go undercover as a prisoner 588 00:25:31,160 --> 00:25:32,720 to the Nazi prisoner camp. 589 00:25:32,840 --> 00:25:34,640 [Don] Once there, he means to collect intelligence, 590 00:25:34,760 --> 00:25:37,360 build a resistance network to smuggle in food 591 00:25:37,480 --> 00:25:38,680 and medicine for the inmates. 592 00:25:38,800 --> 00:25:40,640 [Duchovny] His plan is so extreme 593 00:25:40,760 --> 00:25:42,480 not everyone is on board. 594 00:25:42,600 --> 00:25:45,320 - Some of Pilecki's leaders don't know how bad things are 595 00:25:45,440 --> 00:25:47,720 inside this concentration camp, but they're worried that 596 00:25:47,840 --> 00:25:49,160 it's basically a suicide run. 597 00:25:49,280 --> 00:25:51,480 - The plan is so far outside normal procedures 598 00:25:51,600 --> 00:25:53,680 that it's incredible the Polish resistance 599 00:25:53,800 --> 00:25:55,920 doesn't simply shut it down. 600 00:25:56,040 --> 00:25:58,600 [Duchovny] In late summer, Pilecki is finally 601 00:25:58,720 --> 00:26:01,040 granted permission to head into Auschwitz. 602 00:26:01,160 --> 00:26:03,200 But he can't just walk up and knock on the door. 603 00:26:03,320 --> 00:26:07,320 He needs to be transported there as a genuine prisoner. 604 00:26:07,440 --> 00:26:09,080 - To make sure his military record doesn't draw 605 00:26:09,200 --> 00:26:12,400 the attention of the Gestapo, he takes on a false identity, 606 00:26:12,520 --> 00:26:14,240 Tomasz Serafinski. 607 00:26:14,360 --> 00:26:16,480 [Martin] Then, he deliberately gets himself 608 00:26:16,600 --> 00:26:18,480 rounded up by the German military police 609 00:26:18,600 --> 00:26:20,400 in the streets of Warsaw. 610 00:26:20,520 --> 00:26:22,520 [Greg] Those arrested could be taken anywhere in the Reich. 611 00:26:22,640 --> 00:26:24,760 And his plan is to essentially just hope that 612 00:26:24,880 --> 00:26:26,360 he gets sent to Auschwitz. 613 00:26:26,480 --> 00:26:29,360 Three days later, Pilecki's gamble pays off. 614 00:26:29,480 --> 00:26:32,200 - He enters the camp underneath the now infamous sign 615 00:26:32,320 --> 00:26:34,120 that reads "arbeit macht frei," 616 00:26:34,240 --> 00:26:36,120 "work will set you free." 617 00:26:36,240 --> 00:26:38,640 [Duchovny] Witold Pilecki is the only 618 00:26:38,760 --> 00:26:42,520 known person to have ever entered Auschwitz by choice. 619 00:26:42,640 --> 00:26:45,400 Now he's prisoner 4859. 620 00:26:45,520 --> 00:26:48,960 - In the camp, Pilecki endures backbreaking labor, 621 00:26:49,080 --> 00:26:52,760 conditions so harsh that a prisoner's life expectancy 622 00:26:52,880 --> 00:26:54,840 is measured in weeks, not months. 623 00:26:54,960 --> 00:26:58,160 He keeps his head down, but he begins to build a network. 624 00:26:58,280 --> 00:27:00,720 - Pilecki recruits other prisoners inside the camp, 625 00:27:00,840 --> 00:27:02,320 and they start organizing a group 626 00:27:02,440 --> 00:27:03,840 to distribute food and clothing. 627 00:27:03,960 --> 00:27:06,720 And they even undertake small acts of sabotage. 628 00:27:06,840 --> 00:27:11,640 - Against all odds, Pilecki's daring mission is paying off. 629 00:27:11,760 --> 00:27:15,440 But in March 1942, everything changes 630 00:27:15,560 --> 00:27:19,200 when Auschwitz transforms from a brutal work camp 631 00:27:19,320 --> 00:27:23,000 into an extermination machine. 632 00:27:23,120 --> 00:27:25,880 [Dan] In the spring of 1942, Nazi leaders begin 633 00:27:26,000 --> 00:27:28,360 to enact their Final Solution. 634 00:27:28,480 --> 00:27:31,160 This is a genocidal blueprint for wiping out 635 00:27:31,280 --> 00:27:33,520 all of Europe's Jews. 636 00:27:33,640 --> 00:27:35,680 Pilecki is witness to the opening stages 637 00:27:35,800 --> 00:27:37,200 of the Holocaust. 638 00:27:37,320 --> 00:27:39,840 - He sees trains arriving, coming and going. 639 00:27:39,960 --> 00:27:44,160 He sees Jewish men, women, and children being dropped off. 640 00:27:44,280 --> 00:27:47,000 And then he sees billowing clouds of smoke, 641 00:27:47,120 --> 00:27:49,440 indicating that they have been incinerated. 642 00:27:49,560 --> 00:27:51,840 [Duchovny] Faced with this horror, Pilecki knows 643 00:27:51,960 --> 00:27:54,360 the world must hear the truth. 644 00:27:54,480 --> 00:27:58,480 It's a message so crucial he must deliver it in person. 645 00:27:58,600 --> 00:28:03,000 So two years and seven months after breaking into Auschwitz, 646 00:28:03,120 --> 00:28:04,920 Pilecki plots his escape. 647 00:28:05,040 --> 00:28:07,560 - Through his network, Pilecki and two co-conspirators 648 00:28:07,680 --> 00:28:12,360 slowly gather false papers, civilian clothes, money, 649 00:28:12,480 --> 00:28:15,440 and even cyanide, which they will use on themselves 650 00:28:15,560 --> 00:28:16,960 if they do get captured. 651 00:28:17,080 --> 00:28:19,080 [Don] Pilecki bribes a guard to transfer him 652 00:28:19,200 --> 00:28:21,520 to the camp bakery located just outside 653 00:28:21,640 --> 00:28:26,240 the main perimeter, one of the least secure areas of the camp. 654 00:28:26,360 --> 00:28:29,360 [Duchovny] The night of April 26, 1943, 655 00:28:29,480 --> 00:28:31,280 they make their move. 656 00:28:31,400 --> 00:28:34,640 - At 2:00 a.m., the three men force open the bakery door 657 00:28:34,760 --> 00:28:36,200 and sprint into the darkness. 658 00:28:36,320 --> 00:28:39,560 - The alarm sounds, gunfire goes off behind them, 659 00:28:39,680 --> 00:28:42,480 but somehow they vanish into the woods. 660 00:28:42,600 --> 00:28:48,960 Then they make a grueling 60-mile journey on foot 661 00:28:49,080 --> 00:28:51,440 until they reach a resistance safe house. 662 00:28:51,560 --> 00:28:53,640 [Duchovny] Shortly after, Pilecki handwrites 663 00:28:53,760 --> 00:28:55,880 his 104-page mission report. 664 00:28:56,000 --> 00:28:57,760 It's a landmark document. 665 00:28:57,880 --> 00:28:59,840 - Pilecki writes the first eyewitness 666 00:28:59,960 --> 00:29:01,080 account of the Holocaust. 667 00:29:01,200 --> 00:29:02,600 It's the first time the Allies 668 00:29:02,720 --> 00:29:04,120 really understand what's going on, 669 00:29:04,240 --> 00:29:06,080 but they're helpless to do anything. 670 00:29:06,200 --> 00:29:09,720 It's not until January of 1945 that the Soviet troops arrive 671 00:29:09,840 --> 00:29:11,560 and finally liberate Auschwitz. 672 00:29:11,680 --> 00:29:14,680 [Duchovny] Pilecki survives the war, but in the aftermath, 673 00:29:14,800 --> 00:29:17,640 he faces a new, deadly challenge. 674 00:29:17,760 --> 00:29:19,280 - Two years after Germany's defeat, 675 00:29:19,400 --> 00:29:21,240 Poland falls under Soviet control. 676 00:29:21,360 --> 00:29:24,480 Now Pilecki has to fight for his country all over again. 677 00:29:24,600 --> 00:29:26,840 But this time, it doesn't go as well. 678 00:29:26,960 --> 00:29:28,800 He's arrested by the Communists for organizing 679 00:29:28,920 --> 00:29:30,160 acts of resistance. 680 00:29:30,280 --> 00:29:32,400 [Martin] He's tried, convicted, 681 00:29:32,520 --> 00:29:34,760 and then in 1948, he is executed. 682 00:29:34,880 --> 00:29:37,320 [Duchovny] After his death, the Soviets expunged 683 00:29:37,440 --> 00:29:40,040 Pilecki's bravery from Polish history. 684 00:29:40,160 --> 00:29:42,320 His incredible mission to reveal the horrors 685 00:29:42,440 --> 00:29:44,320 of Auschwitz is buried-- 686 00:29:44,440 --> 00:29:48,480 until 2000, a decade after the Soviet Union collapses, 687 00:29:48,600 --> 00:29:51,560 when his eyewitness report is finally published. 688 00:29:51,680 --> 00:29:54,840 [Don] In 2006, Poland posthumously honors Pilecki 689 00:29:54,960 --> 00:29:58,320 with the Order of the White Eagle, their highest award. 690 00:29:58,440 --> 00:30:01,000 Recognition of a spy who broke all the rules 691 00:30:01,120 --> 00:30:03,880 to walk into a hell on Earth 692 00:30:04,000 --> 00:30:05,480 and tell the world what he saw. 693 00:30:08,600 --> 00:30:10,360 - In the last 150 years, more than 60 national leaders 694 00:30:10,480 --> 00:30:12,240 have been assassinated. 695 00:30:12,360 --> 00:30:14,520 Those responsible are usually radicals, 696 00:30:14,640 --> 00:30:16,360 rebels, or lone gunmen. 697 00:30:16,480 --> 00:30:19,240 But behind this plot to kill a democratically elected 698 00:30:19,360 --> 00:30:22,360 prime minister is the CIA. 699 00:30:22,480 --> 00:30:25,600 [suspenseful music] 700 00:30:25,720 --> 00:30:27,920 [Hakeem] On June 30, 1960, 701 00:30:28,040 --> 00:30:29,880 the African nation of the Congo, 702 00:30:30,000 --> 00:30:33,400 now known as the DRC, declares independence 703 00:30:33,520 --> 00:30:36,400 after decades of colonial rule by Belgium. 704 00:30:36,520 --> 00:30:39,600 The country's first ever prime minister, Patrice Lumumba, 705 00:30:39,720 --> 00:30:42,360 promises that from now on, the Congolese people 706 00:30:42,480 --> 00:30:46,680 will control their own land, including its mineral wealth. 707 00:30:46,800 --> 00:30:48,760 [Duchovny] The Congolese are euphoric. 708 00:30:48,880 --> 00:30:50,760 In Belgium, they're seething. 709 00:30:50,880 --> 00:30:52,320 - The Congo is massive. 710 00:30:52,440 --> 00:30:54,240 It's about the size of Western Europe, 711 00:30:54,360 --> 00:30:57,640 and it is absolutely packed with minerals. 712 00:30:57,760 --> 00:31:00,600 There's copper, there's cobalt, there's uranium-- 713 00:31:00,720 --> 00:31:03,880 all resources that Belgian corporations have been mining 714 00:31:04,000 --> 00:31:06,360 to fuel their industries for generations. 715 00:31:06,480 --> 00:31:08,680 [Duchovny] Belgium immediately moves to reclaim 716 00:31:08,800 --> 00:31:10,760 control of this wealth. 717 00:31:10,880 --> 00:31:12,880 It incites a mineral-rich southern region 718 00:31:13,000 --> 00:31:16,480 known as Katanga to break away from the Congo. 719 00:31:16,600 --> 00:31:18,240 - They select a local politician 720 00:31:18,360 --> 00:31:21,240 to be a puppet leader and send in Belgian troops 721 00:31:21,360 --> 00:31:22,880 to support him. 722 00:31:23,000 --> 00:31:24,640 [Duchovny] To hold his country together, 723 00:31:24,760 --> 00:31:27,160 Lumumba asks the U.S. for military aid. 724 00:31:27,280 --> 00:31:30,000 When they refuse, he turns to the East. 725 00:31:30,120 --> 00:31:32,080 [Dan] Lumumba reaches out to the Soviet Union, 726 00:31:32,200 --> 00:31:34,760 and they give him weapons and advisors. 727 00:31:34,880 --> 00:31:37,680 Now, for America, that crosses a line. 728 00:31:37,800 --> 00:31:41,240 [Sasha] Washington now sees Lumumba as a threat, 729 00:31:41,360 --> 00:31:43,280 potentially spreading Communism throughout 730 00:31:43,400 --> 00:31:44,800 the African continent. 731 00:31:44,920 --> 00:31:47,040 [Hakeem] The CIA director, Allen Dulles, 732 00:31:47,160 --> 00:31:49,400 demands his urgent removal. 733 00:31:49,520 --> 00:31:52,320 - They wanna take out the democratically elected leader 734 00:31:52,440 --> 00:31:55,240 of a sovereign nation, a flagrant violation 735 00:31:55,360 --> 00:31:57,040 of international law. 736 00:31:57,160 --> 00:31:59,840 [Duchovny] The man who gets the task is Larry Devlin, 737 00:31:59,960 --> 00:32:04,240 CIA Station Chief at Congo's capital, Léopoldville. 738 00:32:04,360 --> 00:32:07,640 - Devlin decides he's gonna remove Lumumba from power 739 00:32:07,760 --> 00:32:09,840 by orchestrating chaos. 740 00:32:09,960 --> 00:32:11,760 [Sasha] He funds the opposition. 741 00:32:11,880 --> 00:32:13,840 He bankrolls demonstrators. 742 00:32:13,960 --> 00:32:16,600 And he spreads anti-Lumumba propaganda. 743 00:32:16,720 --> 00:32:19,280 Then he sets his sights on the military. 744 00:32:19,400 --> 00:32:21,840 The CIA starts paying off colonels 745 00:32:21,960 --> 00:32:24,120 in the army for their loyalty. 746 00:32:24,240 --> 00:32:26,200 [Duchovny] Soon, the country is in chaos. 747 00:32:26,320 --> 00:32:29,440 And now they encourage a new leader to take advantage. 748 00:32:29,560 --> 00:32:32,440 [Paul] Colonel Mobutu places Lumumba under house arrest, 749 00:32:32,560 --> 00:32:35,000 and the military seizes control of all of the elements 750 00:32:35,120 --> 00:32:36,640 of government power. 751 00:32:36,760 --> 00:32:38,040 [Duchovny] But for the CIA, that's not enough. 752 00:32:38,160 --> 00:32:40,760 They need a more permanent solution. 753 00:32:40,880 --> 00:32:44,200 - As long as Lumumba is alive, he remains a powerful symbol 754 00:32:44,320 --> 00:32:46,000 with huge support among the people. 755 00:32:46,120 --> 00:32:47,600 The CIA needs him gone. 756 00:32:47,720 --> 00:32:49,600 [Duchovny] But if Devlin is going to solve 757 00:32:49,720 --> 00:32:52,320 the problem of Lumumba, he needs to do it fast. 758 00:32:52,440 --> 00:32:54,800 - There has been an election in the United States 759 00:32:54,920 --> 00:32:57,240 and a concern that JFK could soon 760 00:32:57,360 --> 00:32:59,760 call for Lumumba's release. 761 00:32:59,880 --> 00:33:02,440 - Devlin's bosses suggest poison. 762 00:33:02,560 --> 00:33:05,520 But he thinks that might get traced back to the agency. 763 00:33:05,640 --> 00:33:09,840 Then he figures Lumumba has many enemies besides the CIA, 764 00:33:09,960 --> 00:33:13,480 so why not get one of them to do the job for him? 765 00:33:13,600 --> 00:33:15,840 - Larry Devlin settles in on a plan, 766 00:33:15,960 --> 00:33:19,600 and that is to deliver Lumumba to his political enemies 767 00:33:19,720 --> 00:33:21,240 in the province of Katanga, 768 00:33:21,360 --> 00:33:25,200 and there, his execution is pretty much guaranteed. 769 00:33:25,320 --> 00:33:27,640 [Duchovny] But Persuading the Congo's many factions 770 00:33:27,760 --> 00:33:29,960 to sign up to this plan isn't easy 771 00:33:30,080 --> 00:33:31,400 without attracting attention. 772 00:33:31,520 --> 00:33:33,640 [Paul] Devlin needs to coordinate 773 00:33:33,760 --> 00:33:36,160 with a lot of different groups in the Republic of Congo, 774 00:33:36,280 --> 00:33:39,480 but he's prominent enough that he needs an excuse 775 00:33:39,600 --> 00:33:42,000 for why he can move around the country. 776 00:33:42,120 --> 00:33:44,480 [Duchovny] Luckily for him, the perfect smokescreen is 777 00:33:44,600 --> 00:33:47,040 on its way, a living legend. 778 00:33:47,160 --> 00:33:50,320 - In October 1960, a plane touches down 779 00:33:50,440 --> 00:33:52,360 at the Léopoldville airport. 780 00:33:52,480 --> 00:33:56,080 And out steps none other than Louis Armstrong. 781 00:33:56,200 --> 00:34:01,080 Satchmo, arguably America's first truly global superstar, 782 00:34:01,200 --> 00:34:04,320 has come to play in the Congo where his concerts draw 783 00:34:04,440 --> 00:34:07,160 crowds of over 100,000 people. 784 00:34:07,280 --> 00:34:09,679 - For the CIA, the timing is perfect. 785 00:34:09,800 --> 00:34:12,800 Devlin hosts Armstrong at the U.S. embassy facilities 786 00:34:12,920 --> 00:34:14,800 and can use the concert schedule 787 00:34:14,920 --> 00:34:16,639 to jet around the country. 788 00:34:16,760 --> 00:34:18,320 It's argued that, under the guise 789 00:34:18,440 --> 00:34:19,960 of those tours logistics, 790 00:34:20,080 --> 00:34:22,760 Devlin meets Lumumba's enemies in Katanga 791 00:34:22,880 --> 00:34:24,520 to plot his execution. 792 00:34:24,639 --> 00:34:27,480 All the while, Armstrong has no idea 793 00:34:27,600 --> 00:34:32,280 his tour is being hijacked for a covert CIA operation. 794 00:34:32,400 --> 00:34:34,400 [Duchovny] By the time Armstrong flies out, 795 00:34:34,520 --> 00:34:37,199 Patrice Lumumba senses the noose is tightening. 796 00:34:37,320 --> 00:34:41,199 He makes a desperate attempt to escape but is caught. 797 00:34:41,320 --> 00:34:44,600 - On January 17, 1961, Lumumba is recaptured 798 00:34:44,719 --> 00:34:48,880 and flown into Katanga under Colonel Mobutu's orders. 799 00:34:49,000 --> 00:34:52,280 That night, Katangese officials and Belgian operatives 800 00:34:52,400 --> 00:34:54,120 drive him out into the bush 801 00:34:54,239 --> 00:34:57,680 where he's executed on the spot. 802 00:34:57,800 --> 00:35:00,840 [Duchovny] Patrice Lumumba, the first democratically 803 00:35:00,960 --> 00:35:03,400 elected prime minister of an independent Congo, 804 00:35:03,520 --> 00:35:05,640 is dead at 35. 805 00:35:05,760 --> 00:35:10,080 In his place, the CIA's strongman, Colonel Mobutu, 806 00:35:10,200 --> 00:35:12,560 rules the Congo for over three decades. 807 00:35:12,680 --> 00:35:14,880 But piece by piece, the CIA's role 808 00:35:15,000 --> 00:35:18,040 in this rogue assassination is uncovered. 809 00:35:18,160 --> 00:35:20,960 - The story first comes to light in 1975, 810 00:35:21,080 --> 00:35:24,400 when Congress investigates the CIA's illicit activities. 811 00:35:24,520 --> 00:35:26,360 [Dan] Then, in 2021, a British author 812 00:35:26,480 --> 00:35:28,600 named Susan Williams stitches details 813 00:35:28,720 --> 00:35:30,560 from newly declassified documents, 814 00:35:30,680 --> 00:35:33,200 and she uncovers what she believes are indications 815 00:35:33,320 --> 00:35:37,120 of just how far the CIA's manipulations went, 816 00:35:37,240 --> 00:35:41,720 right to the CIA's use of Louis Armstrong's Congo tour 817 00:35:41,840 --> 00:35:42,680 as a smoke screen. 818 00:35:45,760 --> 00:35:47,320 - From the 1950s to the 1970s, 819 00:35:47,440 --> 00:35:49,400 the Federal Bureau of Investigation 820 00:35:49,520 --> 00:35:52,040 under the iron reign of J. Edgar Hoover 821 00:35:52,160 --> 00:35:54,760 runs a top secret illegal operation 822 00:35:54,880 --> 00:35:57,160 targeting thousands of U.S. citizens. 823 00:35:57,280 --> 00:35:59,160 The only reason we know about it 824 00:35:59,280 --> 00:36:01,600 is because eight ordinary Americans 825 00:36:01,720 --> 00:36:04,880 pulled off one extraordinary heist. 826 00:36:05,000 --> 00:36:08,840 [suspenseful music] 827 00:36:08,960 --> 00:36:12,240 - By 1956, J. Edgar Hoover has been running the FBI 828 00:36:12,360 --> 00:36:14,880 for over three decades. 829 00:36:15,000 --> 00:36:17,600 For him, the real threat to America's security 830 00:36:17,720 --> 00:36:20,040 isn't organized crime or bank robbers, 831 00:36:20,160 --> 00:36:24,120 it's ideas, political movements that threaten the system, 832 00:36:24,240 --> 00:36:26,560 particularly Communism. 833 00:36:26,680 --> 00:36:29,000 - He wants to root out these groups and neutralize them. 834 00:36:29,120 --> 00:36:30,720 No holds barred. 835 00:36:30,840 --> 00:36:32,240 [Duchovny] Hoover's problem is, 836 00:36:32,360 --> 00:36:34,280 the courts keep getting in his way. 837 00:36:34,400 --> 00:36:36,960 [Andrew] Hoover is willing to use illegal wiretaps, 838 00:36:37,080 --> 00:36:38,840 bugging, intercepting mail. 839 00:36:38,960 --> 00:36:41,840 He believes that these tools and tactics are fair game. 840 00:36:41,960 --> 00:36:43,960 But the courts insist on warrants. 841 00:36:44,080 --> 00:36:45,960 They want constitutional protections. 842 00:36:46,080 --> 00:36:48,960 Hoover sees these as operational inconveniences. 843 00:36:49,080 --> 00:36:53,320 [Duchovny] So in 1956, he decides to circumvent the law 844 00:36:53,440 --> 00:36:57,320 with a new classified operation he calls COINTELPRO, 845 00:36:57,440 --> 00:37:00,120 short for Counterintelligence Program. 846 00:37:00,240 --> 00:37:03,840 - Hoover creates a program to try to monitor the behavior 847 00:37:03,960 --> 00:37:05,760 of potential dissident groups. 848 00:37:05,880 --> 00:37:09,120 He also starts having agents infiltrate them and push 849 00:37:09,240 --> 00:37:12,240 more radical activity than they had previously espoused, 850 00:37:12,360 --> 00:37:16,480 which will then justify the FBI in suppressing those groups. 851 00:37:16,600 --> 00:37:18,480 [Duchovny] This is an illegal operation 852 00:37:18,600 --> 00:37:21,520 targeting U.S. citizens on American soil, 853 00:37:21,640 --> 00:37:24,000 and it grows fast. 854 00:37:24,120 --> 00:37:27,200 - By the 1960s, Hoover expands the program's scope 855 00:37:27,320 --> 00:37:28,960 to civil rights leaders and opponents 856 00:37:29,080 --> 00:37:30,760 of the war in Vietnam. 857 00:37:30,880 --> 00:37:33,120 Any voice speaking out against the status quo, 858 00:37:33,240 --> 00:37:35,800 Hoover calls it subversive and unleashes his agents. 859 00:37:35,920 --> 00:37:37,760 [Duchovny] One activist is dead center 860 00:37:37,880 --> 00:37:41,080 in Hoover's sights: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. 861 00:37:41,200 --> 00:37:42,920 - At this time, Martin Luther King 862 00:37:43,040 --> 00:37:45,760 is the most prominent voice in the Civil Rights movement. 863 00:37:45,880 --> 00:37:50,240 His profile and influence make him a key target for Hoover. 864 00:37:50,360 --> 00:37:53,480 [Sami] In 1962, Hoover instructs COINTELPRO 865 00:37:53,600 --> 00:37:56,560 to investigate King for alleged Communist influences. 866 00:37:56,680 --> 00:37:59,040 He doesn't really believe that King is a Communist. 867 00:37:59,160 --> 00:38:01,280 He just wants to disrupt the Civil Rights movement. 868 00:38:01,400 --> 00:38:03,560 [Andrew] As Hoover digs into Martin Luther King Jr., 869 00:38:03,680 --> 00:38:06,000 he bugs his hotel room, taps his phones, 870 00:38:06,120 --> 00:38:08,200 puts him under 24-hour surveillance, 871 00:38:08,320 --> 00:38:09,880 all without warrants from the courts. 872 00:38:10,000 --> 00:38:11,760 - Eventually, they record evidence. 873 00:38:11,880 --> 00:38:13,520 Not that King is a Communist, 874 00:38:13,640 --> 00:38:16,200 but that he's been having an affair. 875 00:38:16,320 --> 00:38:18,120 [Duchovny] It's the ammunition Hoover needs 876 00:38:18,240 --> 00:38:20,120 to bring King down. 877 00:38:20,240 --> 00:38:23,640 Now COINTELPRO crosses the biggest line yet. 878 00:38:23,760 --> 00:38:26,600 - In November of 1964, King receives a package. 879 00:38:26,720 --> 00:38:29,800 Inside are audio recordings documenting 880 00:38:29,920 --> 00:38:31,920 his extramarital relationship. 881 00:38:32,040 --> 00:38:34,040 There's also an anonymous threatening letter. 882 00:38:34,160 --> 00:38:36,560 He calls King a fraud and tells him, 883 00:38:36,680 --> 00:38:38,600 "There is but one way out for you." 884 00:38:38,720 --> 00:38:42,920 - The FBI seems to be telling a Nobel Peace Prize winner 885 00:38:43,040 --> 00:38:44,280 to kill himself. 886 00:38:44,400 --> 00:38:45,600 It's not subtle. 887 00:38:45,720 --> 00:38:47,480 King refuses. 888 00:38:47,600 --> 00:38:50,880 - Hoover's unchecked operation targets citizens across America 889 00:38:51,000 --> 00:38:52,440 for over a decade. 890 00:38:52,560 --> 00:38:54,880 But its secrecy is about to be shattered, 891 00:38:55,000 --> 00:38:57,920 because in a quiet corner of Pennsylvania, 892 00:38:58,040 --> 00:39:00,920 eight ordinary Americans are plotting to expose 893 00:39:01,040 --> 00:39:03,480 the FBI's dirtiest tricks. 894 00:39:03,560 --> 00:39:07,600 ♪ ♪ 895 00:39:07,720 --> 00:39:10,920 - In 1971, a group emerges that calls itself 896 00:39:11,040 --> 00:39:14,040 the Citizens' Commission to Investigate the FBI, 897 00:39:14,160 --> 00:39:16,000 and they are convinced that the FBI 898 00:39:16,120 --> 00:39:18,560 is engaging in behavior that is illegal, 899 00:39:18,680 --> 00:39:20,160 immoral, and unethical. 900 00:39:20,280 --> 00:39:22,000 [Duchovny] Their plan? 901 00:39:22,120 --> 00:39:24,760 Break into an FBI office to steal documents that prove it. 902 00:39:24,880 --> 00:39:26,840 Their target is a lightly guarded 903 00:39:26,960 --> 00:39:28,920 field office in Pennsylvania. 904 00:39:29,040 --> 00:39:32,520 And they'll do it on the perfect night for a heist. 905 00:39:32,640 --> 00:39:36,560 - On March 8, 1971, Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier 906 00:39:36,680 --> 00:39:39,200 are gearing up for the fight of the century. 907 00:39:39,320 --> 00:39:42,240 Millions of Americans, including local police, 908 00:39:42,360 --> 00:39:44,400 are gonna be glued to their televisions. 909 00:39:44,520 --> 00:39:47,000 [Sami] Dressed in suits and evening wear, 910 00:39:47,120 --> 00:39:48,760 the team approaches the office as if 911 00:39:48,880 --> 00:39:51,000 they're heading to a party. They break in. 912 00:39:51,120 --> 00:39:53,840 And once inside, they ignore files on mobsters 913 00:39:53,960 --> 00:39:56,200 and bank robberies and instead search for evidence 914 00:39:56,320 --> 00:39:57,680 of political surveillance. 915 00:39:57,800 --> 00:40:01,400 The group find hundreds of classified pages. 916 00:40:01,520 --> 00:40:05,000 They take all this information and walk out into the night. 917 00:40:05,120 --> 00:40:06,840 [Hakeem] Back at a safe house, 918 00:40:06,960 --> 00:40:09,760 they sift through over 1,000 pages, 919 00:40:09,880 --> 00:40:14,080 and they come across the critical name, "COINTELPRO." 920 00:40:14,200 --> 00:40:17,240 [Duchovny] The activists have uncovered extensive details 921 00:40:17,360 --> 00:40:19,280 of Hoover's illegal war. 922 00:40:19,400 --> 00:40:21,720 The question now, is any journalist 923 00:40:21,840 --> 00:40:23,680 brave enough to take on Hoover 924 00:40:23,800 --> 00:40:25,800 and publish what they've found? 925 00:40:25,920 --> 00:40:27,680 - The burglars mail copies of some of the most 926 00:40:27,800 --> 00:40:29,640 incriminating documents to members 927 00:40:29,760 --> 00:40:31,360 of the press and politicians. 928 00:40:31,480 --> 00:40:34,640 Most of the recipients of this classified material 929 00:40:34,760 --> 00:40:37,240 are terrified at the prospect of publishing it 930 00:40:37,360 --> 00:40:40,520 because publishing classified documents is a crime. 931 00:40:40,640 --> 00:40:42,080 - Only Betty Medsger, a journalist 932 00:40:42,200 --> 00:40:44,160 for "The Washington Post," has the courage 933 00:40:44,280 --> 00:40:46,000 to publish the story. 934 00:40:46,120 --> 00:40:50,000 And when it hits the press, the country absolutely erupts. 935 00:40:50,120 --> 00:40:52,240 [Duchovny] Hoover defends his actions as needed 936 00:40:52,360 --> 00:40:54,240 to keep Americans safe. 937 00:40:54,360 --> 00:40:56,920 Privately, the exposé forces him 938 00:40:57,040 --> 00:40:59,680 to pull the plug on his operation. 939 00:40:59,800 --> 00:41:01,440 Determined to find the burglars, 940 00:41:01,560 --> 00:41:04,320 he unleashes 200 agents, one of the largest 941 00:41:04,440 --> 00:41:06,960 manhunts in FBI history. 942 00:41:07,080 --> 00:41:09,400 - For 40 years, the identities of the burglars 943 00:41:09,520 --> 00:41:12,160 remain a total secret until Betty Medsger 944 00:41:12,280 --> 00:41:14,560 publishes a book about their exploits. 945 00:41:14,680 --> 00:41:17,680 It's only then that the world finally learns who they were, 946 00:41:17,800 --> 00:41:21,800 eight ordinary Americans who risked everything 947 00:41:21,920 --> 00:41:26,480 to expose the illegal plans of their own government. 948 00:41:26,600 --> 00:41:29,560 - When the stakes are high enough, no set of rules 949 00:41:29,680 --> 00:41:32,960 will ever stop a government from getting what it wants. 950 00:41:33,080 --> 00:41:36,280 But the rogue missions they carry out in the dark 951 00:41:36,400 --> 00:41:40,240 eventually get exposed for all to see.