This is the second and last article of two installments about Dr. Mark Whitacre and his experience as a whistleblower for the FBI. For Part I, read the Dec. 6 article, Whitacre’s white-collar crimes lead to transformation.

Update: Whitacre has provided a link to the video he intended to show in chapel, Dec. 6, which did not work due to audio malfunctions. The video can be found here.

Whitacre wins favor with the FBI

Between Dr. Mark Whitacre’s confession of price-fixing, whistle-blowing and time in prison, he became very familiar with the FBI. Though most accounts of dealing with the FBI are negative, Whitacre holds them in high regard.

?They were very good to me; I got to know them like family,” Whitacre said. “I?d be with them at six in the morning, they?d shave my chest, tape the microphone to my chest at six in the morning, I?d go wear the wire all day long during work. I?d meet them from six o?clock till midnight every night for three years to meet with them and turn over all the tapes, and they really became family.”

As he was working with a powerful group, Whitacre feared that he would permanently face their disapproval. However, the FBI showed compassion on him while he was in prison. Since then, Whitacre has been involved with the group through a recent presentation at the FBI Quantico Academy. He will give another presentation for the FBI in Tampa, FL, Dec. 8.

“I worried that the FBI wouldn?t be able to forgive me,” Whitacre said. “They started visiting prison and became my biggest supporters. I was the keynote speaker at the Quantico Academy this year. So they?ve become my biggest supporters.”

According to Whitacre, the FBI have demonstrated understanding attitudes toward his actions since they asked him to undertake tasks that they would not even ask of their own agents. Recognizing the effects these tasks had on Whitacre, the FBI adjusted some of their policies.

“They wouldn?t even let their own agents wear one [wires] for more than a year,” Whitacre said. “So they?re also looking back and seeing how they would have done things differently, like having a psychiatrist meet with me every quarter. For an agent going undercover, they get that every quarter. But for me, being a civilian, I didn?t get any of that help.”

Just as Whitacre was evaluating his decisions and actions, the FBI were considering what they had done as well. Putting together their observations, they recognize what effects they had on each other.

“They [the FBI] look at it even differently and see what they would do differently today than back then,” Whitacre said. “They admit that they made a few mistakes along the way because when you crack under pressure and you have a nervous breakdown, you start making poor decisions.”

Whitacre observes disparity between film, reality

Aside from his personal development, another result of Whitacre’s experience was a book of his story, The Informant (by Kurt Eichenwald), which inspired a film adaptation. Director Steven Soderbergh put the book to screen, with Matt Damon portraying Whitacre.

Since the filmmakers chose to display the story as a dark comedy, Whitacre did not interact with Damon until after the movie was filmed. Likewise, actors were not to meet the real life figures, which was to maintain the filmmaker’s vision without outside influence.

“They wanted to make it a dark comedy, so they didn?t want any of the actors to meet the real people,” Whitacre said. “They wanted to fictionalize the story. They wanted to make characters. They had Joel McHale playing an FBI agent. If he?d met a real FBI agent who was really serious, he wouldn?t have done the same thing playing that part. They didn?t want anyone to meet before, but after it was filmed.”

Once the production was complete, Whitacre was able to spend time with the Academy Award-winning Damon. Whitacre jokes that the actor was chosen to match his looks.

“At the premiere, we spent from five in the evening to one in the morning with him and his wife,” Whitacre said. “So we got a chance to spend time with him. He was a very nice man. He was a very down-to-earth guy. He was chosen because we?re identical twins. They had to find whoever looked most like Mark Whitacre, and he was the only one close enough.”

With the decision to portay Whitacre’s story as a dark comedy, the film was embellished and adjusted to fit the theme. According to Whitacre, this tone differs greatly from reality. At the beginning of the movie, a slide appears to inform viewers ahead of time that the movie was dramatized.

“That was just the way they chose to do it; they thought it?d be more entertaining,” Whitacre said. “In real life, even the FBI agents have done many interviews, there was nothing comical about it. But just to make it more entertaining, they thought that would sell better.”

According to Whitacre, there is already discussion on making another more Christian-oriented version of the movie. He sees potential for an inspiring film to promote the importance of overcoming adversity. Author Steven Hoover recently published a book covering this topic called, Mark Whitacre Against All Odds.

“We really beat all odds, you know, for my wife and I, and three children, all doing as well as we could,” Whitacre said. “And as well as we?re doing, to overcome that adversity — it?s a really good story about overcoming adversity — so there?s a lot of interest in the testimony standpoint about redemption, second chances and overcoming adversities.”

Although Whitacre wishes to display more spirituality in his story, he recognizes how The Informant! set up a platform to reach audiences with his testimony.

“[The movie] has really created a platform; a tremendous platform because people are intrigued by the story. So the movie has really, as much as we would like to have it differ, it has really been a great platform for events like this,” Whitacre said. “So it has really been a platform to where people want to hear the rest of the story; they know a complicated like can?t be all in an hour and a half movie, so they?re interested to hear more. It has been a great platform.”

For Part I, read the Dec. 6 article, Whitacre’s white-collar crimes lead to transformation.