It's January 1973, and Lester Mats is sitting behind the wheel of his Cadillac, driving

through downtown Baltimore.

The streets are full of couples, braving the bitter cold and making their way into upscale

restaurants and bars.

Mats wishes he could join them, just park the car, throw on a warm jacket, and find a

dark lounge and a stiff drink.

But Mats can't waste a single minute, not after the notice he just received from the

federal government.

Mats is the co-owner of an engineering company in Baltimore.

Over the last decade, his firm's done well.

They've gotten a steady supply of lucrative government contracts and Mats is overseeing

road construction projects all over Maryland.

But apparently, his company is now the target of a federal inquiry.

Mats just received a subpoena from the U.S. Department of Justice.

The feds are looking into kickbacks paid to local officials in exchange for government

contracts, and they're demanding to see Mats's business records, which is a problem, because

Mats hasn't exactly run a clean operation for the last few years.

This investigation poses a risk, both to Mats personally and to his entire firm, which

employs more than 300 people.

But what the feds might not know is that their probe could have larger consequences.

If they dig deep enough, they could inadvertently target one of the most powerful men in American

government, and cause a national uproar.

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