Bagman, according to Dictionary.com, is
- an agent who collects or distributes the proceeds of illicit activities.
- a political fundraiser
While not as intense and intriguing as Maddow’s recent podcast Ultra, Bagman builds its plot episode by episode, and leads the listener to a riveting finale. Bagman is another political story that could have slipped through the cracks as it happened in the shadows of another lager crime, Watergate. It is a story that must be told, so that History is not forgotten and that we are reminded that the contemporary brazenness that we have seen from a President does have a precedent. To put it in Maddow’s own words, “History is here to help”
It was a time when Watergate when in the news when a loud mouthed corrupt racist, anti-liberal Vice President worked at the Whitehouse, side by side with a corrupt President. The Vice President in question was Spiro Agnew, serving alongside president Nixon. Bagman briefly touches upon Agnew’s rise to fame with hateful rhetoric towards liberal and the press.
After being formally inducted as VP, Agnew ran a ongoing bribery and extortion scheme from the White house. In exchange for kickbacks and bribes, Agnew was able to hand over federal contracts toward his chosen businessmen. It was then that a group young dynamic prosecutors from Baltimore stumbled upon one such business relationship between Agnew and a businessman named Lester Matt.
The young men took the matter to attorney general Eliot Richardson, who already had his hand full, investigating Nixon for Watergate. Luckily for the prosecutors, Richardson partnered with them to bring charges against Agnew,
As expected from a typical demagogue, Spiro retaliated with a vengeance, weaponizing his own massive public support against the prosecutors. With the support of powerful lawyers like Marty London, he created an massive PR campaign funded by the likes of Frank Sinatra and W Clement Stone. He called the case against him a witch hunt (Sounds familiar?) and attacked the prosecutors.
In response, the prosecutors doubled down on their efforts. The prosecutor for the case was attorney George Bell whose brother Glen Bell was a serving senator. Spiro with Nixon’s blessing, drew in none other than , George H W Bush, then republican leader to talk to Senator Glen Bell to persuade his brother to stop the investigation. The plan failed, as George Bell was a man of integrity and refused to comply with the demand.
Spiro then tried to strong arm the prosecutors to reveal their sources, in another desperate attempt to stall the investigation. Realizing that Spiro’s cause was lost, Nixon turned on him. It was then that Spiro’s downfall began leading to his ultimate resignation. Rachel backs up her narration with sound clips from Nixon’s tape and audio recordings of statements of some of the players.
She finally ends the podcast by interviewing the heroes that helped bring down Spiro. This is again, a typical well researched, well presented podcast and is a must for everyone.
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