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According to the discussion regarding a typical deal between Michael Corleone and Sen. Pat Geary, in The Godfather: Part II, Michael refuses to pay anything extra to the senator, after which later in the movie Sen. Geary is found in a not so good condition with his mistress in one of the motels under Fredo’s (Michael’s elder brother) colleagues to which Tom is seen taking a glare of the situation. But the mystery is still unsolved...

Was the Sen. set up by The Don? If yes, then why? Was it all coincidences?

Well, the answers could be the same for all of the above questions, or they may not. Anybody with any idea?

Links to:

Discussion between the two

Sen Pat is screwed

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  • @Napoleon- Thanks for the edits. But its a mystery indeed;)
    – user377340
    Apr 2, 2018 at 17:57
  • Do you remember near the beginning of the movie when Pat Geary was trying to shake down Michael Corleone (for lack of a better word)? Geary was acting like an arrogant jerk. Michael wouldn't budge to his demands. I always thought that was why Geary was set up. Corleone could totally control him now, even at the Senate hearings later in the movie. Apr 3, 2018 at 17:12

2 Answers 2

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Was the Sen. set up by The Don?

Yes

Coppola confirms this is the case in the DVD commentary saying that

"That's how lethal the Corleone's were that they would send a guy like Neri to hurt a woman like that and kill her just to get this political figure in their pocket".

In the movie itself it's just heavily implied that this was a Corleone set-up.

Notwithstanding that Geary just happens to kill a prostitute in a Corleone-run brothel and has no memory of the incident there is a telling by-play in the middle of the scene.

While Geary is protesting his lack of memory and "it was just a game", we see Al Neri, a Corleone hitman/enforcer washing his hands in the rooms bathroom.

Hagen gives a head nod to Neri to indicate that Neri should make himself scarce.

enter image description here

You can see the whole scene on Youtube

The original script does not contain this scene. Instead the Corleones set up Geary by paying off $30,000 of fake gambling markers Geary is supposed to have signed.

This would have the appearance of Geary accepting a bribe so setting up Geary seems to be a consistent plot point.

Geary is an influential Senator and was serving on a U.S. Senate committee investigating organized crime.....having him in your pocket would be a definite plus.

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  • A video link, wherein Coppola admits this, would be very useful. Thanks.
    – user377340
    Apr 4, 2018 at 7:57
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    There is no video link...it's in the DVD Commentary as I mentioned.
    – Paulie_D
    Apr 4, 2018 at 10:10
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The scene in question implies that Senator Geary was drugged by someone at the brothel. When he woke up, he was in the middle of a crime scene controlled by the Corleone's. This was how they were able to get a political favor (the gambling license) out of an otherwise unwilling politician.

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  • Thanks- Ya he was indeed drugged, but, was it all the set up by the Corleones or was it just a “lucky” coincidence, according to my question?
    – user377340
    Apr 3, 2018 at 2:57

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