According to documentary filmmaker Alex Gibney, America's opioid crisis -- as bad as it continues to be -- was on the precipice of becoming much worse under the administration of former president Donald Trump.
Appearing on the Daily Beast's "The New Abnormal" podcast with host Molly Jong-Fast, the man behind the "Going Clear" expose of Scientology described what he discovered when looking into how Big Pharma helped create a massive addiction problem.
Talking about his "The Crime of the Century " documentary for HBO, Gibbs brought up both Trump's involvement and also linked former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani to the crisis.
Regarding Trump, he told the host about Trump's initial choice of Rep. Tom Marino (R-PA) to head up the effort.
"His [Trump's] go-to guy [for drug czar] happened to be the guy who did more than anybody to eviscerate the DEA and his ability to go after these companies that were flooding America, the opioids, of course," he explained before noting that Marino withdrew his name after damaging reports that legislation he sponsored had hindered the DEA.
According to Gibney, the ultimate blame is with the drug companies -- with Giuliani having a hand in the problem.
"Purdue gets its hand slapped, but doesn't have to endure any real punishment in 2006 because of a deal cut mysteriously. And nobody knows exactly who cut that deal at the Department of justice," he reported. "But Rudy Giuliani was, was a part of it. And then it happens again in 2020 with this deal cut again at the Department of Justice where fines are paid, key facts are buried."
You can listen to the podcast here (subscription required).
