Written by Eric Warren Singer, American Bullshit tells the true story of the FBI’s 1980 undercover sting operation of Congress, dubbed Abscam, which was created by "the world’s greatest con man" to root out corruption. The script was in the top 10 of the 2012 Black List.
"It doesn't matter how you get knocked down in life because that's going to happen. All that matters is you gotta get up."
The FBI set up “Abdul Enterprises, Ltd.” in 1978. FBI employees posed as Kraim Abdul Rahman, a fictional Middle Eastern sheikh, in videotaped talks with government officials, where they offered money in return for political favors to a non-existent sheikh. A house, along with a yacht in Florida and hotel rooms in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, were used to set up meetings between various public officials and a mysterious Arab sheikh named “Kambir Abdul Rahman” who wanted:
* To purchase asylum in the U.S.
* To involve them in an investment scheme
* To get help in getting his money out of his country
Much of the operation was directed by Melvin Weinberg, a convicted con artist, who was hired by the FBI for that purpose. It was the first major operation by the FBI to trap corrupt public officials; up until 1970 only ten members of Congress had ever been convicted of accepting bribes… The FBI had codenamed the operation “Abscam”, a contraction of “Abdul scam”, after the name of the company.
"It doesn't matter how you get knocked down in life because that's going to happen. All that matters is you gotta get up."
Thank you!
