By Peter Lance. June 18th On the 45th anniversary of the break-in at the Democratic National Committee Headquarters at The Watergate complex MSNBC aired a two-hour documentary narrated by Robert Redford.

It has chilling relevance to the current crisis over Donald J. Trump, Russia’s interference in the 2016 election and his possible obstruction of justice in firing FBI director James Comey.

Remember the words of George Santayana: “Those who do not remember the past are condemned to relive it.” CLICK IMAGE Above for link to the documentary.

If focuses on Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein’s legendary journo-procedural “All The President’s Men,” which was adapted into what remains the best political thriller ever made – written by William Goldman and directed by Alan J. Pakula. 

To mark the anniversary and airing of the doc I’m pulling my HuffPost published on January 3rd  out of the archives of investigatingtrump.com. It recalls Nixon’s infamous “enemies list” and Trump’s  New Year’s Eve 2016 threat to his “many enemies.  

In the late 1970’s I had the privilege of interviewing the late Frank Wills, the night watchman at the Watergate complex, who was doing his rounds as a private security guard when he noticed some duct tape covering a lock from the parking garage into the complex. 

The alert Wills called the D.C. police and the seven burglars later linked to Nixon’s “Plumbers” unit were arrested. After the break-in he reportedly got a $2.50 raise above his salary of $80.00 a week.

Frank Wills’ actions that night in 1972 are proof positive that any single person, acting in service of their duties can change history. But years later he struggled with poverty. He was so poor at the time of his invalid mother’s death that he had to donate her body for medical research because he lacked the funds to bury her. He died at the age of 52 from a brain tumor.