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“Miller doesn’t work for you, Matt,” the DCI said. “I decide what is acceptable—for that matter, criminal—behavior on his part and what’s not.”
Hall looked at him for a long moment and then said, “That being the case, I don’t think we have anything more to talk about, do you, John?”
The telephone on the side table by the couch rang.
Castillo looked at the secretary for guidance.
“Answer it, Charley,” Hall ordered.
Castillo went to the telephone and picked it up.
He said “Hello” and then immediately switched to German. The conversation lasted not much more than a minute and then he hung up.
“That was very interesting, sir,” he said to Hall.
“Well, as soon as the director leaves, you can tell me what it was all about,” the secretary said. “You are about to leave, Mr. Director, aren’t you?”
It was a moment before the DCI answered. “I don’t want to leave on this kind of a sour note, Matt. Exactly what is it you want of me?”
“My hope, which, now that I think about it, was probably naïve, was that you would accept this situation as a problem for both of us. Instead . . .” He paused, obviously searching for the right words.
“Go on, Matt.”
“Instead, you’re acting like a typical bureaucrat protecting his turf.”
“That’s what you think, eh?
”
“Frankly, John, you seem far more concerned that somebody has found out the CIA has egg on its face—and that the president’s going to hear about it—than you do about fixing what’s wrong.”
“Is that so?”
“What I had hoped our friendly chat would accomplish was that I could truthfully tell the president that we had uncovered a stoppage in the flow of information at Langley, that I had told you about it and had your assurance you would personally look into it and get back to me.”
The DCI looked at him.
“The president’s going to know about that filing tonight, John, and hear how I came by it,” Hall went on. “And I’m going to relay Charley’s concern that Miller is probably—how do I put this?—in some jeopardy because he decided his first duty was to obey the orders of the commander in chief and acted accordingly.”
The DCI looked as if he was going to say something, then changed his mind.
“And now if you’ll excuse me, John,” Hall said, “I have to go home and put on my tux.”
“And if I gave you my assurance that I will personally look into this—what did you call it? ‘stoppage in the flow of information’—and get back to you?”
“Then that’s what the president will hear,” Hall replied. “I would also like to tell him I had your assurance that you’re not going to make a sacrificial lamb of Miller.”
“Frankly, I haven’t made up my mind about Mr. Miller.”
“I suggest you do, John. The president’s going to hear one thing or the other.”
Powell did not respond directly.
“You said you’re going to give the president that filing?” he asked.
“The satburst and tell him about the unfiled filing. I don’t think he’ll want to take the time to read the filing, but if he asks for it I’ll of course give it to him. I’ll tell him what’s in it, and I’ll also make sure that Charley is available to personally answer any questions the president might have.”
“Okay. Deal,” the DCI said. “I’ll take your word that Castillo here is authorized to be made privy to material like this. Since that’s the case, Miller did nothing to violate the law. So he gets a pass on this.”
