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<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="42270" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Robert-Pattinson">Robert Pattinson</keyword> talked about wearing a fat suit in a dramatic scene in "<keyword id="9760686" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="the-devil-all-the-time">The Devil All the Time</keyword>" with the movie's director <keyword id="2082511" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Antonio-Campos">Antonio Campos</keyword> on <keyword id="128682" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Netflix">Netflix</keyword> Film Club.</li><li>Pattinson said he was grateful for his "fat belly" when he had to fall over a church pew over and over again for a scene.</li><li>Warning: Spoilers below if you haven't seen "The Devil All the Time."</li></ul><p>Robert Pattinson put a lot of preparation into his <a href="https://www.insider.com/robert-pattinson-shocking-accent-in-the-devil-all-the-time-2020-9">memorable Southern accent</a> to play the role of pastor Preston Teagardin in Netflix's dark drama "The Devil All the Time." </p><p>The accent helped the usually charming Pattinson into the slimy preacher he plays in the movie. The transformation was completed with a fat suit that gave Pattinson a slight belly, which he said came in handy for a <keyword id="840" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="stunt">stunt</keyword> scene.</p><p>In a conversation with the movie's director, Antonio Campos, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSFZvLLl3xA&amp;ab_channel=NetflixFilmClubClub">for Netflix Film Club</a>, the actor said that in the dramatic scene in which Teagardin faces off with Arvin (<keyword id="470824" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Tom-Holland">Tom Holland</keyword>), the fat suit cushioned him when he had to repeatedly throw himself over a church pew.</p><p>"Doing about 30 takes of falling over the pew, it really helped having a fat belly," Pattinson said with a laugh. </p><p>In the scene, Arvin comes to the church to confront Teagardin for getting his best friend Lenora (Eliza Scanlen) pregnant. She has since killed herself and now Arvin, with a gun in his hand, has come to seek vengeance.</p><div type="image" title="fat_suit_1_Netflix" height="553" width="1366" msid="78410587" hostid="261"></div><p>After a heated conversation, Arvin shoots Teagardin, which hits the preacher in the hand and causes him to fall over a pew.</p><div type="image" title="fat suit 2 Netflix" height="556" width="1366" msid="78410589" hostid="261"></div><p>Campos pointed out in the Film Club interview that Pattinson wanted to fall over the pew himself. Typically in a scene like that, there would be a cut so a stunt double would replace the actor. But because Pattinson was up to do the stunt in the scene (30 times, he says) the action looks more realistic and more surprising when it happens.</p><p>"That's when you just have to hurt yourself," Pattinson said of the stunt. "I'm always like, 'Yeah, no problem.' Stunts where you have to learn that you're really good at doing something, that's always a problem."</p><p>So if you read between the lines there it's pretty safe to say Pattinson is going to leave the fight sequences in "The Batman" to the pro stunt doubles.</p><p><strong>Watch Pattinson's conversation with Campos below:</strong></p><p><em>"The Devil All the Time" is available now on Netflix.</em></p><p><strong>Read more:</strong></p><p><a href="https://www.insider.com/robert-pattinson-the-devil-all-the-time-accent-reaction-video-2020-9">Robert Pattinson says he made himself laugh with his over-the-top accent for Netflix's 'The Devil All the Time'</a></p><p><a href="https://www.insider.com/robert-pattinson-weirdest-stories-surprising-moments-2020-9">10 true stories that prove Robert Pattinson is the most interesting celebrity in Hollywood</a></p><p><a href="https://www.insider.com/robert-pattinson-shocking-accent-in-the-devil-all-the-time-2020-9">Robert Pattinson shocked everyone on the set of Netflix's 'The Devil All the Time' with his high-pitched Southern accent</a></p>

Robert Pattinson was thankful for his fat suit in 'The Devil All the Time' when he had to repeatedly fall over a church pew

<ul class="summary-list"><li>"<keyword id="9760686" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="the-devil-all-the-time">The Devil All the Time</keyword>" director <keyword id="2082511" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Antonio-Campos">Antonio Campos</keyword> spoke to Insider about how he made his movie that stars some of Hollywood's brightest talents.</li><li>The movie, based on the thrilling Donald Ray Pollock novel, stars Tom Holland, Robert Pattinson, Bill Skarsgård, Riley Keough, Sebastian Stan, Mia Wasikowska, and others.</li><li>Campos said the key is making sure the actors you cast aren't — as he put it — "divas."</li><li>Also, he hadn't seen Tom Holland as Spider-Man until after he made the movie.</li></ul><p>Though director Antonio Campos has been making <keyword id="406" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="60" keywordseo="Movies">movies</keyword> for over 15 years, his latest, "The Devil All the Time," marks the first time that he's working with legitimate movie stars.</p><p>Known for making gritty indies that examine the human condition with dark performances and lush photography, he's been able to bring along actors like Rebecca Hall (2016's "Christine"), Brady Corbet (2012's "Simon Killer"), and a then-unknown Ezra Miller (2008's "Afterschool").</p><p>But with "The Devil All the Time" Campos has leveled up big time.</p><p>Backed by <keyword id="128682" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Netflix">Netflix</keyword> to adapt the popular Donald Ray Pollock novel, Campos is not just getting the largest audience ever to his work but attracting the likes of Robert Pattinson, Tom Holland, Bill Skarsgård, Riley Keough, Sebastian Stan, and Mia Wasikowska to come along for a story featuring a collection of troubled people and their interconnecting lives set in post World War II Midwest.</p><p>It could potentially be a lot of pressure for a director, not just working with big-name actors but also making sure that an ensemble like this gets the proper screen time. But Campos said he didn't feel intimidated by that pressure because he's looking for actors that aren't, as he put it, "divas."</p><p>"When I cast someone or want to work with someone it's because I feel like not only are they talented but they are good people and fun to be around," Campos told Insider. "I don't really have a lot of patience for people who are unpleasant and moody and complicated."</p><div type="image" title="Antonio Campos Gary Gershoff Getty" height="1935" width="2580" msid="78176096" hostid="261"></div><p>To make sure he wouldn't have anyone with huge egos on his set, Campos cast "The Devil All the Time" with actors he felt a connection with.</p><p>Some were people he built friendships with over time, like Robert Pattinson, who plays pastor Preston Teagardin in the movie. The two began hanging out when Pattinson was in New York making 2017's "Good Time."</p><p>Others were formed through general meetings he had, like Riley Keough and Bill Skarsgård.</p><p>"Riley was someone I got coffee with and we hit it off," Campos said. "Bill and I bonded right away because we were both having our kids two weeks apart."</p><p>Crafting a collection of actors he trusted helped a lot in building a fun and relaxed environment on set, Campos said. But he admits there was one actor that was a thrill to work with and that was Tom Holland.</p><p>"I've had good success working with young people," Campos said. "My first film was with Ezra Miller, so I really like working with young actors because I find that they are just so excited and passionate. There's nothing that's old hat to them."</p><div type="image" title="The Devil All The Time Tom Hollan Glen Wilson Netflix" height="1732" width="2309" msid="78176100" hostid="261"></div><p>He said that was certainly evident as he teamed with Holland, who is in his early twenties, to bring the movie's main character, Arvin, to the screen. Similar to the rest of the stars on the project, Campos said Holland didn't come with any ego, even though he's known the world over for playing Spider-Man in the Marvel movies. However, the indie-rooted Campos admits at the time of making "The Devil All the Time" he hadn't seen him play the superhero so he wasn't aware of how huge of a star he was.</p><p>"I knew him from his theater work and being the kid from 'The Impossible,'" Campos said, referring to the 2012 movie in which he stars opposite Naomi Watts and Ewan McGregor as a family caught in the tsunami that hit Thailand in 2004. "Peter Parker wasn't in my head, to me he is this thoughtful British guy."</p><p>Reflecting on why a movie with all these stars wasn't overwhelming, Campos said the biggest reason was everyone had the same goal.</p><p>"Everyone comes into this kind of project for the right reasons, which is they want to make something cool and interesting and they maybe want to go to a place they haven't gone to before as an actor," Campos said. "So they are there for the right reasons. They are there to challenge themselves and dive into the material. It's not about the money it's about the experience and because of that you feel everybody wants to be there and everybody is just giving everything to the role and the scene."</p><p><em>"The Devil All the Time" is available now on Netflix.</em></p><h2>Read more:</h2><ul><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/robert-pattinson-shocking-accent-in-the-devil-all-the-time-2020-9">Robert Pattinson shocked everyone on the set of Netflix's "The Devil All the Time" with his high-pitched Southern accent</a></li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/the-devil-all-the-time-cast-characters-tom-holland-robert-pattinson">Here are all the stars in Netflix's anticipated 'The Devil All the Time' and who they're playing</a></li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/robert-pattinson-career-life-bio-photos">How Robert Pattinson went from a 'Twilight' heartthrob to the star of 'Tenet' and 'The Batman'</a></li></ul>

Netflix's 'The Devil All the Time' director explains why he wasn't intimidated working with A-list stars like Tom Holland and Robert Pattinson

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="42270" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Robert-Pattinson">Robert Pattinson</keyword> refused to let anyone hear the voice he would use for his movie "<keyword id="9760686" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="the-devil-all-the-time">The Devil All the Time</keyword>" until he began making the movie.</li><li>Its director, <keyword id="2082511" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Antonio-Campos">Antonio Campos</keyword>, told Insider about Pattinson's process and what it was like when the actor finally revealed his high-pitched Southern accent.</li><li>"There was no way in my mind that he wasn't going to come on set with something bad," Campos said.</li></ul><p>Robert Pattinson had a special treat for everyone making <keyword id="128682" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Netflix">Netflix</keyword>'s newest drama, "The Devil All the Time," when he showed up on set for his first day of work.</p><p>When he opened his mouth, he had a high-pitched Southern drawl that he had been crafting in his room for days and didn't let anyone hear — not even the movie's director, Antonio Campos.</p><p>The movie, available now on Netflix, is based on the 2011 Donald Ray Pollock novel, which is set in southern Ohio and West Virginia after World War II and looks at a group of people all dealing with their own evil temptations. Pattinson plays Preston Teagardin, a new preacher in town who has an eye for young girls, most recently Lenora (Eliza Scanlen). Teagardin's actions eventually lead to a confrontation with Lenora's protective friend, Arvin (<keyword id="470824" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Tom-Holland">Tom Holland</keyword>). The movie also stars Bill Skarsgård, Riley Keough, Sebastian Stan, and Jason Clarke.</p><p>Campos said that when he had completed an early draft of the script he had recently become friends with Pattinson, who was in New York City making the 2017 movie "Good Time." One day, he gave Pattinson the script and asked, "Who do you want to play?"</p><p>"Rob said right away, 'I want to play that guy Teagardin. That guy seems like he would be fun to play,'" Campos told Insider.</p><p>Campos knew Pattinson wouldn't be using his real English accent for the role, but he didn't know how Pattinson would sound. As production neared, other actors sent Campos recordings of the voices they were working on with a dialect coach — but not Pattinson.</p><div type="image" title="The Devil All the Time Netflix" height="552" width="1105" msid="78149093" hostid="261"></div><p>"Rob was impossible to get dialect coaching," Campos said. "He just didn't want to do it. He was just adamant about figuring it out on his own."</p><p>And when Campos would inquire about Pattinson's progress, the actor would talk in circles.</p><p>"He would be like, 'I'm going to do this thing and that thing, with a little bit of this,'" Campos said in his best Pattinson English accent.</p><p>But Pattinson would never reveal the voice.</p><p>Finally, it was Pattinson's first day of shooting — a scene where he seduces Lenora in his car.</p><p>"That was the first time I heard his voice and saw the character in person," Campos said.</p><p>In the scene, Pattinson speaks softly as he persuades Lenora to take off her blouse as he prays. In other scenes when he's passionately preaching, his voice gets even higher and more powerful and menacing. It's a performance that is yet another unique turn in Pattinson's evolving career.</p><p>But through all the time waiting for Pattinson to reveal the voice, was Campos ever concerned he wouldn't like it?</p><p>"I don't get worried about those things," the director said.</p><p>"There was no way in my mind that he wasn't going to come on set with something bad. I might not have dug it, but it wasn't going to be bad. I'd rather have someone come with something weird that's a choice than something that isn't thought out. So I knew he would come with something interesting."</p><ul class="read-more-links"><li>Read more:</li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/the-devil-all-the-time-cast-characters-tom-holland-robert-pattinson">Here are all the stars in Netflix's anticipated 'The Devil All the Time' and who they're playing</a></li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/all-of-robert-pattinson-movies-ranked-from-worst-to-best">Every single Robert Pattinson movie, ranked</a></li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/robert-pattinson-career-life-bio-photos">How Robert Pattinson went from a 'Twilight' heartthrob to the star of 'Tenet' and 'The Batman'</a></li></ul>

Robert Pattinson shocked everyone on the set of Netflix's 'The Devil All the Time' with his high-pitched Southern accent

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="13912264" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="patrick-schwarzenegger" source="Orion">Patrick Schwarzenegger</keyword> says his famous dad Arnold is "obsessed" with <keyword id="11921392" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="hbo" source="Orion">HBO</keyword>'s "<keyword id="13829768" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="the-staircase" source="Orion">The Staircase</keyword>."</li><li>Patrick plays Todd Peterson on the drama and said Arnold became a fan after learning of his role on the series.</li></ul><p>Patrick Schwarzenegger has a tense relationship with his <a href="https://www.insider.com/staircase-hbo-cast-characters-colin-firth-parker-posey-2022-5">onscreen father Colin Firth</a> on HBO Max's new drama "The Staircase." But in real life, the actor said his famous dad Arnold was nothing but supportive of his new role — even though Patrick didn't go to him for any acting advice.</p><p>"A lot of sons go to their father for advice with anything. I definitely go to him like that, but I didn't go to him for this specific character," the "Daniel Isn't Real" actor said. </p><p>According to the 28-year-old, however, Arnold is a massive fan of both the true-crime documentary that inspired the new drama, and Antonio Campos' gripping new adaptation for HBO Max.</p><p>"He had watched the miniseries, and he was obsessed with it as well once he found out that I got cast in this," Patrick, who's the eldest son of Arnold and journalist Maria Shriver, revealed. </p><p>The actor told Insider that he'd watched the documentary series "twice" prior to being cast in the new adaptation, which made him "really excited" to <a href="https://www.insider.com/staircase-hbo-cast-characters-photos-colin-firth-toni-collette-2022-5">play Todd Peterson</a>, the son of novelist Michael Peterson (Firth), who <a href="https://www.insider.com/what-is-the-staircase-about-hbo-true-crime-colin-firth-2022-5">was accused of killing his wife Kathleen in 2001</a>.</p><div type="image" title="Patrick Schwarzenegger and Dane DeHaan on HBO Max's &quot;The Staircase.&quot;" height="1280" width="1706" msid="91519856" hostid="261"></div><p>Patrick also praised Campos for helping the actors prepare for the show. </p><p>"Antonio Campos was with the story for like, 10 years. He was such a treasure chest of information. He had so much uncut footage from the documentary to pull from, and interviews to read, and he was almost a one stop shop of information," Patrick said. </p><p>The new <a href="https://trk.hbomax.com/aff_c?offer_id=5&amp;aff_id=1012" rel="nofollow sponsored">HBO Max</a> drama is inspired in part by the true-crime documentary series, and follows Peterson (Firth) and his blended family as they try to come to terms with Kathleen's death, and Peterson's possible guilt. </p><p>Investigators identified the former novelist as a person of interest following Kathleen's death, and Peterson later turned himself in after being indicted for Kathleen's murder. Following a lengthy and highly-publicized trial, Peterson was <a href="https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/crime/article261003282.html">convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison</a> in 2003. </p><p>However, after it was revealed that one of the prosecution's key witnesses had lied while under oath, a judge <a href="https://people.com/crime/where-is-michael-peterson-now/">vacated the original jury's verdict</a> in 2011. After <a href="https://abc7chicago.com/michael-peterson-durham-novelist-murder/1771592/">submitting an Alford plea in 2017</a>, Peterson was <a href="https://people.com/crime/where-is-michael-peterson-now/">released for time served</a>.</p><p>"The Staircase," which also stars Toni Collette, Sophie Turner, and Michael Stuhlbarg, is currently streaming on HBO Max, with new episodes releasing Thursdays. You can watch the trailer below. </p>

Patrick Schwarzenegger says his dad Arnold is 'obsessed' with his new true crime drama 'The Staircase'

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Dakota Johnson referenced cannibalism allegations against Armie Hammer at Sundance Film Festival.</li><li>She joked that she was almost cast in "Call Me By Your Name," playing the part of the peach.</li></ul><p>Dakota Johnson shocked the audience at Sundance Film Festival Thursday night by cracking a joke about <a href="https://www.insider.com/call-me-by-your-name-luca-guadagnino-armie-hammer-sequel-2022-11" target="_blank" rel="noopener">"Call Me By Your Name"</a> star <a href="https://www.insider.com/armie-hammer-movie-career-life-scandal-timeline" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Armie Hammer</a> while honoring the film's director.</p><p>The 33-year-old actor kicked off the opening night of the festival by presenting acclaimed Italian filmmaker Luca Guadagnino with the international icon award at the Taste of Sundance event.</p><p>Johnson, who appeared in Guadagnino's films "A Bigger Splash," (2015) and "Suspiria" (2018), began her speech by praising the acclaimed filmmaker before joking about her "The Social Network" and "Wounds" costar's <a href="https://www.insider.com/house-of-hammer-armie-hammer-exes-alleged-cannibal-messages-2022-8" target="_blank" rel="noopener">alleged text messages about cannibalism.</a></p><p>Discussing the Oscar-winning coming-of-age story, which starred Hammer and Timothée Chalamet, she said: "Sadly, I wasn't in that one."</p><p>"It was unfortunate. Luca had asked me to play the role of the peach, but our schedules conflicted," she continued, per <a href="https://twitter.com/Variety/status/1616285796839084032" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Variety.</a></p><p>"Thank God, though, because then I would have been another woman that Armie Hammer had tried to eat," she joked, as the audience reacted with gasps, laughs, and applause.</p><div type="image" title="Call Me By Your Name Sony Pictures Classics" height="510" width="682" msid="97176202" hostid="261" sizebytes="23900"></div><p>In one of the most memorable moments from "Call Me By Your Name," teenager Elio (Chalamet) masturbates with a peach while in his bedroom after experiencing sexual feelings towards his father's research assistant, Oliver (Hammer). </p><p>In the Andre Aciman novel the film is based on, Oliver later discovers the peach and eats it, but this scene does <a href="https://www.vulture.com/2017/11/armie-hammer-peach-scene-in-call-me-by-your-name.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">not feature in the movie</a>. </p><p>Moments later in her speech, Johnson turned her attention to <a href="https://www.insider.com/bones-and-all-director-timothee-chalamet-first-choice-lead-role-2022-10" target="_blank" rel="noopener">"Bones and All,"</a> Guadagnino's most recent film, which also stars Chalamet and tells the love story between two cannibals.</p><p>"It's been five years since that film premiered here and Luca hasn't stopped taking us to exciting places," she said. "Who knew cannibalism was so popular?"</p><div type="image" title="Armie Hammer 2" height="800" width="1066" msid="97176204" hostid="261" sizebytes="92924"></div><p>Guadagnino previously shut down claims that "Bones and All" was inspired by Hammer's real-life <a href="https://www.insider.com/armie-hammer-cannibal-dms-controversy-explained" target="_blank" rel="noopener">headline-making controversies.</a></p><p>"David Kajganich and Theresa Park, the writer and one of our producers, have been working on 'Bones and All' since the book was released [in 2015]. Many years ago, probably around the time when we were shooting 'Call Me by Your Name,'" Guadagnino explained during a masterclass presentation at the Zurich Film Festival, per <a href="https://www.indiewire.com/2022/11/luca-guadagnino-call-me-by-your-name-sequel-armie-hammer-1234783026/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Variety</a>.</p><p>"It was to be directed by my great colleague Antonio Campos, but he decided not to go for it. That's when they gave me the script. Any correlation with this kind of innuendo and silliness is preposterous."</p><p>A <a href="https://www.insider.com/armie-hammer-rape-accusation-effie-2021-3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">series of abuse allegations</a> against Hammer went public in 2021. The actor was accused of <a href="https://www.insider.com/armie-hammer-cannibal-dms-controversy-explained" target="_blank" rel="noopener">abuse and sexual assault by multiple women</a> and was also reported to have sent NSFW direct messages on Instagram.</p><p>The messages remain unverified by media outlets, including Insider, and detail fantasies, including drinking blood, sexual domination, and even acts of cannibalism.</p>

Dakota Johnson made a racy joke about Armie Hammer cannibal allegations at Sundance

<ul class="summary-list"><li>"<keyword id="13829768" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="the-staircase" source="Orion">The Staircase</keyword>" subject Michael Peterson said the HBO series contains "egregious fabrications."</li><li>The series is based on a documentary by Jean-Xavier de Lestrade about the death of Peterson's wife.</li></ul><p><a href="https://www.insider.com/staircase-hbo-cast-characters-photos-colin-firth-toni-collette-2022-5">The real-life subject of "The Staircase,"</a> Michael Peterson, has slammed the Colin Firth-starring series over what he claims are "egregious fabrications" about his life and his family.</p><p>The <keyword id="7849400" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="hbo-max" source="Orion">HBO Max</keyword> series, which premiered last month and concluded on Thursday, is <a href="https://www.insider.com/what-is-the-staircase-about-hbo-true-crime-colin-firth-2022-5">based on a 2004 true-crime documentary series of the same name about the death of Michael's wife Kathleen.</a></p><p>In 2001, Kathleen Peterson was found dead at the bottom of a staircase in their North Carolina home and Michael was charged and convicted of murdering his wife two years later. The charges were later reduced to manslaughter in a retrial.</p><p>In his first public remarks about the dramatization, Michael Peterson told <a href="https://variety.com/2022/tv/news/michael-peterson-staircase-hbo-series-1235290119/">Variety</a> that the series "trashed" him and his children.</p><p>"There are egregious fabrications and distortions of the truth in the HBO series, well beyond what may be considered 'artistic' license," Peterson said in an email to Variety's Addie Morfoot.</p><p>Peterson continued that more than just his anger at show creator Antonio Campos, he feels betrayed by Jean-Xavier de Lestrade, the director of the original "The Staircase" documentary. De Lestrade gave Campos access to documentary footage to make the adaptation and was a co-executive producer on the HBO Max series.</p><p>"We feel that Jean pimped us out — sold OUR story to Campos for money — what word other than pimped describes what he did?" Peterson wrote.</p><p>Peterson also said that he was never "consulted or informed" that the drama series was being made, or that de Lestrade had sold their story to Campos.</p><p>"We are the ones who were betrayed, falsely depicted as fighting among ourselves (which NEVER happened), and with made up story lines that denigrate all of us in the eyes of millions," Peterson wrote in the email to Variety.</p><h2>Jean-Xavier De Lestrade, the director of the original "The Staircase" documentary, told Variety he thought he was "protecting" the Peterson family by being involved</h2><div type="image" title="Colin Firth as Michael Peterson, left; and Michael Peterson in an undated photo, right." height="900" width="1200" msid="92132685" hostid="261"></div><p>In an interview with Variety, de Lestrade said that he never looked at Campos' scripts and did not take part in the adaptation creatively, despite his co-executive producer credit. He said that he "really trusted" Campos after talking to him for multiple years.</p><p>"Since I knew that Antonio had in mind to tell the story of Michael and the documentary, I thought that it would be better to cooperate, and be involved in the process than to stay totally outside as a stranger," de Lestrade said. "In a way I thought I was protecting Michael and his family by being involved, but I was wrong."</p><h2>Jean-Xavier de Lestrade, the director of the original "The Staircase" documentary, told Vanity Fair that the show crosses the line by mixing fact and fiction</h2><div type="image" title="Colin Firth and Toni Collette on HBO's &quot;The Staircase.&quot;" height="958" width="1278" msid="92132690" hostid="261"></div><p>In a <a href="https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2022/05/the-staircase-documentary-hbo-max">Vanity Fair article</a> last month, "The Staircase" documentary producer Allyson Luchak, editors Scott Stevenson and Sophie Brunet, and Michael's defense lawyer David Rudolf, all also criticized the show for fictionalizing elements of the story.</p><p>De Lestrade told Vanity Fair that episode 5 of the HBO Max series in particular "crossed the line" by depicting a romantic relationship between Brunet (Juliette Binoche), the documentary's editor, and Peterson while she was working on the project.</p><p>Both Brunet and de Lestrade deny this was the case, and Brunet said she only had a relationship with Peterson after she left the project to work on another film.</p><p>Luchak, who is not depicted in the show, also told Vanity Fair that it was "offensive" that her work in the documentary was either "erased" or attributed to male producer Denis Poncet.</p><p>In April, HBO received similar criticism from <a href="https://www.insider.com/how-true-hbo-winning-time-jerry-west-kareem-what-happened-2022-4">former Los Angeles Lakers players and executives over their series "Winning Time."</a></p><p>Insider has reached out to representatives of HBO Max for comment.</p>

'The Staircase' subject Michael Peterson slams HBO Max series over 'egregious fabrications' and feels 'pimped out' by documentary maker

<ul class="summary-list"><li>In a new interview for Netflix Film Club, "<keyword id="9760686" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="the-devil-all-the-time">The Devil All the Time</keyword>" director Antonio Campos and star <keyword id="42270" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Robert-Pattinson">Robert Pattinson</keyword> spoke about how the British actor created his southern accent for the <keyword id="6356021" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="movie">movie</keyword>.</li><li>Pattinson, who stars as a preacher named Preston Teagardin, recalled wandering around the city where they filmed, recording his words on his phone, and making himself laugh due to his fake accent. </li><li>Campos also said that in early takes for Preston's "delusions" scene, Pattinson would "crack up" on set after saying the word. </li></ul><p>Even <a href="https://www.insider.com/category/robert-pattinson">Robert Pattinson</a> thought that his over-the-top Southern accent in Netflix's <a href="https://www.insider.com/category/the-devil-all-the-time">"The Devil All the Time"</a> was hilarious. </p><p>"I was just wandering around the city, learning the lines and then I don't know what it is, there's just something about some pronunciations that just really tickle me," Pattinson said in a new interview with the film's director, Antonio Campos, for <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSFZvLLl3xA">Netflix Film Club</a>. </p><p>The 34-year actor added: "I was wandering around and then I'd say something and I was just recording things on my phone, kind of just making myself laugh."</p><div type="image" title="robert pattinson devil all the time preston" height="1202" width="1602" msid="78369291" hostid="261"></div><p>In "The Devil All the Time," released on September 16 and based on a post-WWII novel written by Donald Ray Pollock, the British actor stars as a corrupt preacher named Preston Teagardin.</p><p>For the film, <a href="https://www.insider.com/robert-pattinson-shocking-accent-in-the-devil-all-the-time-2020-9">Pattinson surprised fans — and Campos — with his high-pitched Southern accent</a>.</p><p>In their latest interview, Campos recalled Pattinson refusing to meet with a dialect coach and showing up to the film's set in character. When it came time to film Preston's "delusions" speech in the church, Campos said that Pattinson couldn't keep it together.</p><p>"There were early takes where you would say 'delusion' and then you would just crack up," the director said. </p><p>"You kind of have to be working with a friend to be able to just be like, 'I just want to do this thing. It doesn't really make a lot of sense. It's coming from somewhere,'" Pattinson said of his accent.  </p><div type="image" title="robert pattinson devil all the time preston 3" height="1055" width="1407" msid="78369294" hostid="261"></div><p>Campos previously spoke about his experience working with Pattinson during an <a href="https://www.insider.com/robert-pattinson-shocking-accent-in-the-devil-all-the-time-2020-9">interview with Insider's Jason Guerrasio</a>. The director said that Pattinson didn't let anyone hear his accent until his first day on set and refused to get coaching because he was "adamant about figuring it out on his own."</p><p>Pattinson would also dodge Campos' questions about how the accent was coming along and he was the only cast member who didn't send the director voice memos showing his progress. </p><p>Despite this, Campos said that he didn't question Pattinson's craft.</p><p>"There was no way in my mind that he wasn't going to come on set with something bad," the director said. "I might not have dug it, but it wasn't going to be bad. I'd rather have someone come with something weird that's a choice than something that isn't thought out. So I knew he would come with something interesting."</p><div type="image" title="the devil all the time robert pattinson 2" height="1614" width="2152" msid="78369296" hostid="261"></div><p>Pattinson, who <a href="https://www.insider.com/robert-pattinson-career-life-bio-photos">rose to fame with roles in blockbusters like "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" and the "Twilight" films</a>, has showcased a variety of accents in his more recent films. </p><p>To play a thief in Benny Safdie and Josh Safdie's 2017 thriller "Good Time," the actor frequented Queens Center Mall (located in the city where the NY-based film was shot), stayed in character for a whole day, and mastered the borough's dialect. </p><p>He then created a humorous accent for his role as a French dauphin in Netflix's "The King" and worked with a dialect coach to portray an 1890s lighthouse keeper in "The Lighthouse."</p><p>Next, Pattinson will put on another accent to portray the iconic comic-book character Bruce Wayne/Batman in <a href="https://www.insider.com/the-batman-2021-movie-details-information-2020-2">Matt Reeves' "The Batman,"</a> set for release in fall 2021.</p><p>You can watch Pattinson's <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSFZvLLl3xA">full interview</a> with Campos below. </p><ul class="read-more-links"><li>Read more:</li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/robert-pattinson-career-life-bio-photos">How Robert Pattinson went from a 'Twilight' heartthrob to the star of 'Tenet' and 'The Batman'</a></li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/the-batman-2021-movie-details-information-2020-2">What we know about the upcoming 'Batman' movie, starring Robert Pattinson</a></li><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/robert-pattinson-shocking-accent-in-the-devil-all-the-time-2020-9">Robert Pattinson shocked everyone on the set of Netflix's 'The Devil All the Time' with his high-pitched Southern accent</a></li></ul>

Robert Pattinson says he made himself laugh with his over-the-top accent for Netflix's 'The Devil All the Time'

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Thomson Reuters</span></p><p class="caption">Franqui Francisco Flores de Freitas sits in federal court in Manhattan, New York, December 17, 2015, in this courtroom sketch.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>Late on Friday, after several hours of deliberation, jurors filed back into a New York courtroom and <a href="http://www.sunherald.com/news/nation-world/world/article115763968.html" target="_blank">handed down</a> a guilty verdict against two nephews of the Venezuelan first lady.</p><p>Their decision, the culmination of an often sordid trial that began on November 7, may not lead to more scrutiny on officials in Venezuela, one of the Western Hemisphere's most dysfunctional countries where high-level officials are suspected of running a wide-ranging drug-trafficking enterprise.</p><p>Franqui Francisco Flores de Freitas, 31, and Efrain Antonio Campo Flores, 30, were <a href="http://www.insightcrime.org/news-analysis/venezuela-narco-nephews-conviction-suggests-govt-complicity-in-drug-trade" target="_blank">arrested</a> in Haiti almost a year ago and immediately extradited to the US, where this week they were convicted of <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/r-venezuelan-first-ladys-nephews-convicted-in-us-drug-trial-2016-11" target="_blank">conspiracy</a> to import nearly 1,800 pounds of cocaine to the US via Honduras in a multimillion-dollar drug deal.</p><p>Over the last several months, however, the prospects of their case became more uncertain, as a steady stream of details made the government's key witnesses, themselves drug traffickers, look ever more unreliable.</p><p>The US government paid about <a href="http://www.sunherald.com/news/nation-world/world/article115763968.html" target="_blank">$1.2 million</a> to Jose Santos-Pena, 55, and his son, Jose Santos-Hernandez, 34, for information about drug deals over the last few years. The pair also traveled internationally at the behest of the US Drug Enforcement Administration, meeting with suspected traffickers and making secret recordings for US investigators.</p><p>This spring, however, US prosecutors learned that Santos-Pena and Santos-Hernandez were themselves smuggling drugs while working for US agents. At the end of this summer, the two of them <a href="http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2016/11/20/father-son-informants-trafficked-drugs-while-receiving-1m-from-us-government/" target="_blank">pleaded guilty</a> to drug charges, admitting that they had dealt drugs for at least four years.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Thomson Reuters</span></p><p class="caption">Efrain Antonio Campo Flores, second from left, and Franqui Francisco Flores de Freitas stand with law-enforcement officers in this November 12, 2015, photo after their arrest in Port Au Prince, Haiti.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>Santos-Hernandez did not testify, but Santos-Pena did, and more details about his misdeeds soon emerged.</p><p>At a hearing in September, he <a href="http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2016/11/20/father-son-informants-trafficked-drugs-while-receiving-1m-from-us-government/" target="_blank">confessed</a> to prosecutors that he had used a prostitute twice during a trip to Caracas and that he had allowed a friend of his son to be present at DEA-arranged meetings with the two Venezuelans being investigated. He also confessed to using cocaine while working for the US.</p><p>During the trial, the <keyword id="6354810" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="Defense">defense</keyword> tried to paint the prosecution's case as deeply flawed.</p><p>Amid the proceedings, defense counsel Randall Jackson <a href="http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2016/11/20/father-son-informants-trafficked-drugs-while-receiving-1m-from-us-government/" target="_blank">revealed</a> jailhouse recordings showing that Santos-Pena had kept communicating about drug deals in the weeks before the trial.</p><p>Prosecutors decided to <a href="http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2016/11/20/father-son-informants-trafficked-drugs-while-receiving-1m-from-us-government/" target="_blank">disregard</a> the cooperation agreement they had reached with Santos-Pena, doing away with potential leniency for his role in the case and meaning he could face 10 years to life in prison.</p><p>"He lied in your face!" defense attorney David Rody <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/ap-venezuelan-first-ladys-2-nephews-found-guilty-in-drug-case-2016-11" target="_blank">told</a> the jurors. "You saw a rare thing, a government cooperator get ripped up in court."</p><p>"He was slime," juror Robert Lewis, a 69-year-old architect from Westchester, New York, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/ap-venezuelan-first-ladys-2-nephews-found-guilty-in-drug-case-2016-11" target="_blank">said</a> of Santos-Pena. Despite that distaste, Lewis said that other evidence in the case, like recordings, transcripts of conversations, and texts messages, were enough to convict the nephews. "We had to rely on those things," he <a href="http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2016/11/20/father-son-informants-trafficked-drugs-while-receiving-1m-from-us-government/" target="_blank">told</a> the Associated Press.</p><p>Some of those recordings were of <a href="http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-world/national/article113934078.html" target="_blank">poor quality</a>, but at least one showed the nephews handling a brick of cocaine, and in another recording, Campo is heard to say, "I'm 30 years old. I've been doing this work since I was 18."</p><p>The recordings were central to the prosecutors' case, which <a href="http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-world/national/article113934078.html" target="_blank">argued</a> the pair were not minor players, but driving figures behind a plan to pull of a multimillion-dollar drug scheme and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/venezuela-maduro-narco-nephews-politically-motivated-smuggling-case-2016-10" target="_blank">funnel money into their aunt's political campaign</a>.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>AP Photo/Elizabeth Williams, File</span></p><p class="caption">Efrain Antonio Campo Flores, seated second from left and flanked by his attorneys, has an emotional reaction, while appearing with cousin Franqui Francisco Flores De Freitas, far right, in Manhattan federal court at their arraignment on cocaine-smuggling charges in New York, December 17, 2015.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>"It's the nature of the business to have cooperators with really unseemly pasts," Daniel C. Richman, a <keyword id="6355470" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Law">law</keyword> professor at Columbia Law School, <a href="http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2016/11/20/father-son-informants-trafficked-drugs-while-receiving-1m-from-us-government/" target="_blank">told the AP</a> after the trial. Santos-Pena, the elder of the two witnesses, had <a href="http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2016/11/20/father-son-informants-trafficked-drugs-while-receiving-1m-from-us-government/" target="_blank">admitted</a> to being part of Mexico's powerful Sinaloa cartel prior to working for US authorities.</p><p>"A lot of them come from a criminal background," Mike Vigil, a former chief of <keyword id="6356001" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="international">international</keyword> operations for the US Drug Enforcement Administration, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/lying-informants-hurt-us-drug-case-venezuela-maduro-nephews-2016-9" target="_blank">told Business Insider</a> before the case went to trial. "And we in the government use them to get in-depth information that we would not normally get, and as a result of that a lot of times they come under attack by defense attorneys."</p><p>The two nephews will likely be sentenced in early March next year, and while the face a minimum of 10 years, they could get up to life in prison.</p><p>"A conviction for conspiracy can bring a life sentence, but if this is the first time the two nephews have been convicted, I don't think the judge will give them life sentences, but 10 or 20 years," Vigil, author of of "<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Metal-Coffins-Alliance-Cartel-Miguel/dp/0991582195?tag=bisafetynet-20" target="_blank">Metal Coffins: The Blood Alliance Cartel</a>," <a href="http://cnnespanol.cnn.com/video/cnnee-conclusiones-intvw-michael-s-vigil-sobrinos-maduro-veredicto-culpables-narcotrafico/#0" target="_blank">told</a> CNN after the verdict was announced. "Everything depends on the judge."</p><h2>'Venezuela now is a principal point for the transit of cocaine'</h2><p>Throughout the case, details emerged that suggested high-level Venezuelan officials had involvement in the drug trade.</p><p>Flores de Freitas and Campo Flores are nephews of the country's first lady, Cilia Flores, who is married to embattled President Nicolas Maduro, who is grappling with a <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-11-18/venezuelan-president-s-nephews-found-guilty-in-cocaine-case" target="_blank">deteriorating economy</a> and fractious political situation. Maduro's approval rating <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-politics-idUSKBN13D02N?rpc=401" target="_blank">slipped</a> to 19.5% in October, down from about 22% the month prior. The poll, which was not pubic, found about 78.5% of Venezuelans disapproved of Maduro, <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-politics-idUSKBN13D02N?rpc=401" target="_blank">according</a> to Reuters.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Thomson Reuters</span></p><p class="caption">Judge James Cott, attorneys John J. Reilly, center, and Rebekah J. Poston, right, with defendants Efrain Antonio Campo Flores, right foreground, and Franqui Francisco Flores de Freitas, center foreground, during a hearing in US District Court in the Manhattan borough of New York in this courtroom sketch from November 12, 2015.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>Documents filed by US prosecutors and seen by Insight Crime <a href="http://www.insightcrime.org/news-analysis/venezuela-narco-nephews-conviction-suggests-govt-complicity-in-drug-trade" target="_blank">alleged</a> that the two intended to secure a large quantity of cocaine from the FARC, a Colombian rebel group active in the drug trade, and that they were going to use the presidential airplane hanger at Caracas' international airport to move the drugs north to Honduras.</p><p>A Honduran trafficker arrested in relation to the case allegedly served as a contact in that country for a Venezuelan trafficking network called the Cartel of the Suns, which is believed to operate in cells in the branches of Venezuela's military.</p><p>In a recorded conversation <a href="http://www.insightcrime.org/news-analysis/venezuela-narco-nephews-conviction-suggests-govt-complicity-in-drug-trade" target="_blank">cited</a> by Insight Crime, Campo Flores said that "government executives" and the Cartel of the Suns "were the only ones who worked" in drug trafficking in Venezuela, and that they were "in charge of fumigating [eliminating] anyone who tried to enter to work in the country."</p><p>During the trial, a DEA agent also testified that an information told him a high-ranking Venezuelan police official named Bladimir Flores, who is also Cilia Flores' brother, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/r-us-links-venezuelan-official-related-to-maduro-to-drug-probe-2016-9" target="_blank">helped set up a meeting</a> between the two nephews and a well-connected Honduran trafficker. That Honduran trafficker <a href="http://www.insightcrime.org/news-briefs/witnesses-killings-deepen-mystery-in-venezuela-narco-nephews-case" target="_blank">was killed</a> less than a month after the pair was arrested.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Thomson Reuters</span></p><p class="caption">Cilia Flores, center, deputy of Venezuela's United Socialist Party (PSUV) and wife of Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro, talks to the media after a failed session of the National Assembly for lack of quorum in Caracas, January 12, 2016.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>The US has been carrying out investigations of high-level Venezuelan officials accused of complicity in drug trafficking for some time.</p><p>In August, the US unsealed indictments against two senior Venezuelan officials, accusing them of cooperating with traffickers.</p><p>Those indictments were the result of a US government investigation targeting high-level officials who are suspected of turning Venezuela "into a global hub for cocaine trafficking and money laundering," The Wall Street Journal <a href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/venezuelan-officials-suspected-of-turning-country-into-global-cocaine-hub-1431977784" target="_blank">reported</a> last year.</p><p>According to Vigil, institutional weaknesses and rampant corruption in Venezuela, coupled with the FARC's extensive involvement in the drug trade, have helped turn the Venezuela-Colombia frontier in a trafficking nexus.</p><p>"Venezuela has a very weak judicial [system], and corruption in Venezuela is supremely widespread, and I'm talking about at the highest levels, so it doesn't surprise me that we're talking about the FARC," Vigil <a href="http://cnnespanol.cnn.com/video/cnnee-conclusiones-intvw-michael-s-vigil-sobrinos-maduro-veredicto-culpables-narcotrafico/#0" target="_blank">told</a> CNN. "and Venezuela now is a principal point for the transit of cocaine from Colombia to the United States and Europe also."</p><p>There is a possibility that the two nephews will be open to cooperating with US authorities, perhaps revealing other Venezuelan officials involved in drug trafficking, Vigil noted.</p><p>"Our client's obviously disappointed, but we want to see what the next steps are," said Randall Jackson, a lawyer for Campo Flores, <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-usa-crime-idUSKBN13D2PK?il=0" target="_blank">according</a> to Reuters.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/craziest-ways-cartels-smuggle-drugs-2016-9">Some of the craziest ways cartels smuggle drugs into America</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="J0YzYxNjE6GC65Y0SDNcC5ToYHGlWhlN" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

The conviction of Venezuela's 'narco nephews' may bring more heat on a 'global hub of cocaine trafficking'

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>AP Photo/Elizabeth Williams</span></p><p class="caption">Ttwo nephews of Venezuela's first lady, Efrain Antonio Campo Flores, second from left, 29, and Franqui Francisco Flores De Freitas, right, 30, appear in Manhattan federal court at their arraignment on cocaine-smuggling charges on December 17, 2015.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>During testimony in September, two informants taking part in a high-profile international-drug-smuggling case <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-usa-crime-idUSKCN11F2U9" target="_blank">admitted to lying</a> to US officials, which could affect the outcome of the trial against two nephews of the wife of the Venezuelan president.</p><p>The informants, a father-son pair, <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-usa-crime-idUSKCN11F2U9" target="_blank">admitted</a> in court that they had lied to US narcotics investigators in order to smuggle drugs themselves while they worked with the US to investigate <span>Franqui Francisco Flores de Freitas and Efrain Antonio Campo Flores, nephews of Cilia Flores, the wife of Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro.</span></p><p><span>Flores and Campo have pleaded <a href="http://www.insightcrime.org/news-briefs/venezuela-first-lady-s-brother-reportedly-set-up-international-drug-deal" target="_blank">not guilty</a> to charges of conspiring to smuggle nearly 1,800 pounds of cocaine to the US.</span></p><p><span>According to testimony from a US Drug Enforcement Administration agent, a major drug-trafficking informant in Honduras reported to US authorities in October 2015 that a Venezuelan official <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/r-us-links-venezuelan-official-related-to-maduro-to-drug-probe-2016-9" target="_blank">believed</a> to be related to the country's first lady was <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/r-us-links-venezuelan-official-related-to-maduro-to-drug-probe-2016-9" target="_blank">going to send</a> his nephew to Honduras to meet with drug traffickers working as US informants. </span></p><p><span><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Ariana Cubillos/AP</span></p><p class="caption">Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro with his wife, Cilia.</p></div><p></p></div></div></span></p><p><span><span>That informant, who was <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/r-us-links-venezuelan-official-related-to-maduro-to-drug-probe-2016-9" target="_blank">killed soon after</a>, "indicated that these individuals wanted to fly drug-laden planes to Honduras with flight plans," <a href="http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2016/09/09/dea-agent-venezuela-narco-nephews-used-presidential-runway-to-traffic-drugs/" target="_blank">according</a> to the DEA agent.</span></span></p><p><span>According to testimony and court documents, the nephews met with the father-son pair, who were posing as Mexican traffickers, in Venezuela to plan the alleged smuggling scheme. </span></p><p><span>The 55-year-old father and 34-year-old son have worked as <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-usa-crime-idUSKCN11F2U9" target="_blank">undercover informants</a> for law-enforcement agencies in the US and in South America for years, earning hundreds of thousands of dollars. </span></p><p><span>But recently the duo began lying to US Drug Enforcement Administration officials in order to smuggle drugs themselves, they <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-usa-crime-idUSKCN11F2U9" target="_blank">admitted</a> to US authorities. They are both now in jail after pleading <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-usa-crime-idUSKCN11F2U9" target="_blank">guilty</a> to related charges.</span></p><p>"You'd been lying to them for years?" John Zach, a lawyer for Campo Flores, asked CS-2, the designation given to the younger informant. "Yes I did lie to them," <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-usa-crime-idUSKCN11F2U9" target="_blank">he replied</a>.</p><p><span>The father also <a href="http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-world/national/article100874992.html" target="_blank">admitted</a> to abusing cocaine and for deceiving US officials and selling drugs for four years. He <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-usa-crime-idUSKCN11F2U9" target="_blank">testified</a> that prosecutors became upset with him when he admitted to visiting prostitutes twice during a trip to Caracas to meet the accused nephews, rather than just once, as he had previously said. He <a href="http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-world/national/article100874992.html" target="_blank">also said</a> for the first time that he had allowed a friend of his son to be present during one of the meetings with Flores and Campo.</span></p><p><span><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Thomson Reuters</span></p><p class="caption">Handout photo of Efrain Antonio Campo Flores and Franqui Francisco Flores de Freitas stand with Haitian law-enforcement officers in this November 12, 2015, photo after their arrest in Port Au Prince, Haiti.</p></div><p></p></div></div></span></p><p><span>Suspicions about the conduct of the informants in this case have arisen at the same time as the DEA has been criticized for potential "<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/dea-exposed-itself-to-fraud-waste-and-abuse-and-violated-rules-2016-9" target="_blank">fraud, waste, and abuse</a>" in its conduct with confidential sources over the last few years.</span></p><p><span>Sources like the father-son duo inherently raise issues in some prosecutions, given their typical activities.</span></p><p><span> "A<span style="font-weight: 400;"> lot of them come from a criminal background," Mike Vigil, a former chief of <keyword id="6356001" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="international">international</keyword> operations for the US Drug Enforcement Administration, told Business Insider. </span></span></p><p><span><span style="font-weight: 400;">"And we in the government use them to get in-depth information that we would not normally get, and as a result of that a lot of times they come under attack by <keyword id="6354810" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="Defense">defense</keyword> attorneys."</span></span></p><p><span><span style="font-weight: 400;">To bolster cases relying on confidential or undercover informants, investigators will try to independently confirm the details such sources pass along, Vigil said. </span></span></p><p><span><span style="font-weight: 400;">"In the case of the nephews, yeah, a couple of the informants have questionable backgrounds," Vigil, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/what-its-really-like-to-work-for-the-dea-2016-8" target="_blank">who worked undercover in Colombia</a>, added. "But they provided information, and who was the biggest corroborator of that information? It was the nephews, in terms of statements they made when they were arrested in Port au Prince and then being transported to the United States, and then during undercover negotiations."<span></span></span></span></p><p><span><span style="font-weight: 400;">These statements and <a href="http://www.insightcrime.org/news-briefs/venezuela-first-lady-s-brother-reportedly-set-up-international-drug-deal" target="_blank">confessions</a> the nephews signed after their arrest have come into question, however, and the defense has made <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/r-venezuela-first-ladys-nephews-say-they-thought-us-arrest-was-kidnapping-2016-7" target="_blank">an effort to suppress them</a>, arguing that the nephews thought their arrest was a kidnapping and that they were not <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/r-venezuela-first-ladys-nephews-say-they-thought-us-arrest-was-kidnapping-2016-7" target="_blank">made fully aware</a> of their rights while they were being questioned in the hours after they were detained. The two were "<a href="http://www.insightcrime.org/news-briefs/narco-nephews-of-venezuela-first-lady-liaised-with-farc-us-prosecutors" target="_blank">coerced</a>" into making the statements, according to the defense.</span></span></p><p>The misconduct of the informants, coupled with questions raised by the defense about how those purportedly voluntary <a href="http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-world/national/national-security/article103751506.html" target="_blank">confessions</a> were acquired, have put the stability of the case in doubt.</p><p><span>"If I were [US prosecutors], I would be nervous," David Weinstein, a former federal prosecutor who oversaw the narcotics division at the US Attorney's Office in Miami, <a href="http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-world/national/national-security/article103751506.html" target="_blank">told McClatchy</a> in late September. "The way things are going, the case is not getting better. It's getting weaker."</span></p><p><span><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>AP Photo/Elizabeth Williams</span></p><p class="caption">A US marshal stands guard in the background as Francisco Flores, center in blue shirt, and Efrain Campos, second from right, make an initial appearance in Manhattan federal court with their attorneys on November 12, 2015.</p></div><p></p></div></div></span></p><p>"The issue is that these individuals are not choir boys," Vigil said, referring to the pair of informants. "A lot of times, when [such informants are] off on their own, they do things that are criminal, without question. Not all of them, but some of them ... But it's impossible for us to monitor them 24/7."</p><p>Details that emerged during the testimony has also led to questions about the scope of the case US prosecutors are seeking to make against the nephews. The DEA agent <a href="http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2016/09/09/dea-agent-venezuela-narco-nephews-used-presidential-runway-to-traffic-drugs/" target="_blank">testified</a> that the two nephews said they would have the run of the Caracas airport and the ability to move drug cargos through it.</p><p>But, as <a href="http://www.insightcrime.org/news-briefs/venezuela-first-lady-s-brother-reportedly-set-up-international-drug-deal" target="_blank">Insight Crime notes</a>, the involvement of Venezuelan official who first contacted the DEA informant suggests that the two nephews may not have been the masterminds and that they could be being used as cover for a larger group of traffickers operating out of Venezuela. The <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/us-indicts-venezuela-officials-drug-trafficking-2016-8" target="_blank">US has previously indicted high-level military officials</a> on drug-trafficking charges.</p><p>The case, which is slated to go to trial on November 7, likely hinges on whether the judge allows the defendants' statements and audio and video of their meetings with the informants to be entered into evidence.</p><p>"If those declarations are not thrown out," Vigil said, "I'm of the opinion, 100%, that they'll be convicted."</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/why-cocaine-prices-barely-moved-america-2016-9">Why the price of cocaine in America has barely moved in decades</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="c2dzByNTE6gAAJt4WayDn8L0dE9S14MR" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

'Yes I did lie to them': A high-profile drug case is in doubt because 2 informants couldn't stay out of trouble

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>AP Photo/Elizabeth Williams</span></p><p class="caption">In this courtroom sketch, a US marshal stands guard in the background as <keyword id="6354810" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="Defense">defense</keyword> attorney John Reilly, left, Francisco Flores, center in blue shirt, Efrain Campos, second from right, and defense attorney Rebekah Poston make an initial appearance in Manhattan federal court on Thursday, November 12, 2015. An indictment unsealed on Thursday accuses Campos and Flores, nephews of Venezuela's first lady, of conspiring to smuggle cocaine into the US.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>US prosecutors <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-usa-crime-idUSKCN12R2RS" target="_blank">say</a> conversations between one of the Venezuelan first lady's nephews and an informant reveal the political motivations behind what has become known as the "narco nephews" case that has further inflamed tensions between the US and Venezuela.</p><p>Franqui Francisco Flores de Freitas and Efrain Antonio Campo Flores, nephews of Cilia Flores, the wife of Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro, were <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/r-us-links-venezuelan-official-related-to-maduro-to-drug-probe-2016-9" target="_blank">arrested</a> in November 2015 in Haiti and transferred to the US, where they are slated to face <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/lying-informants-hurt-us-drug-case-venezuela-maduro-nephews-2016-9" target="_blank">trial on charges of drug trafficking</a> starting <a href="http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-world/national/article111181662.html" target="_blank">November 7</a>.</p><p>A transcript of a conversation between Efrain Campo, 29, and a Drug Enforcement Administration informant that was seen by McClatchy details Campo saying "<a href="http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-world/national/article111181662.html" target="_blank">we're at war</a>" with the Americans, referring to the deeply contentious relationship between Washington and Caracas. </p><p>Campo also <a href="http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-world/national/article111181662.html" target="_blank">reportedly wanted</a> the alleged deal to smuggle <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/lying-informants-hurt-us-drug-case-venezuela-maduro-nephews-2016-9" target="_blank">nearly 1,800 pounds of cocaine</a> into the US to be concluded quickly because Cilia Flores, his aunt whom he referred to as his mother in the conversation, needed the cash for her campaign.</p><p>"We need the money," Campo <a href="http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-world/national/article111181662.html" target="_blank">said</a>, according to the transcript. "Why? Because the Americas are hitting us hard with money. Do you understand? The opposition ... is getting an infusion of a lot of money."</p><p>At the time of the conversation in October 2015, Maduro's socialist government was in the midst of an unsuccessful campaign to maintain its majority in the country's National Assembly.</p><p>Flores, a former president of the Assembly, was running for a spot as a legislator at the time, <a href="http://www.notitarde.com/Regiones/Cilia-Flores-gano-con-87585-votos-en-el-estado-Cojedes/2015/12/07/744094/" target="_blank">winning</a> a seat representing the state of Cojedes in December 2015.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Ariana Cubillos/AP</span></p><p class="caption">Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro with his wife, Cilia Flores.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>The conversation transcript is the <a href="http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-world/national/article111181662.html" target="_blank">first piece of evidence</a> from the case released that shows a direct connection between Campo and Francisco Flores, 30, and Venezuelan president and his wife. US prosecutors <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-usa-crime-idUSKCN12R2RS" target="_blank">say</a> the conversations reveal that the defendants thought they would be supplying cash to counteract money they believed the US was supplying the opposition ahead of those legislative elections.</p><p>Based on <a href="http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-world/national/article111181662.html" target="_blank">information</a> previously released by prosecutors, Francisco Flores expected to receive $560,000 of the $5 million the deal was worth.</p><p>Campo addressed the socialist party's efforts defeat the political opposition's challenge to its power, saying "We put them in jail over here ... We send them to jail for 15 years," <a href="http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-world/national/article111181662.html" target="_blank">according</a> to McClatchy.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Thomson Reuters</span></p><p class="caption">A handout photo of Efrain Antonio Campo Flores and Franqui Fancisco Flores de Freitas with Haitian law-enforcement officers in this November 12, 2015, photo, taken after their arrest in Port Au Prince, Haiti.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>It's not clear who Campo was referring to at the time, though <a href="http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-world/national/article111181662.html" target="_blank">months prior</a> those legislative elections a Venezuelan court sentenced Leopoldo López, a prominent opposition leader, to 14 years in prison in relation to violence during antigovernment demonstrations in early 2014 that led to the deaths of more than 40 people.</p><p>Defense lawyers called on US District Judge Paul Crotty to deny the admission of conversations that involved Venezuelan's elections.</p><p>They <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-usa-crime-idUSKCN12R2RS" target="_blank">called</a> the statement "idle political chatter" and <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-usa-crime-idUSKCN12R2RS" target="_blank">argued</a> the "highly politicized statements" had no evidentiary value, coming when a DEA informant mentioned Cilia Flores and the elections.</p><p>After his arrest in November last year, Campo tried to downplay his earlier statements about putting money toward Cilia Flores' campaign, <a href="http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-world/national/article111181662.html" target="_blank">telling</a> DEA agents that, "I know I said that, but in reality it was for me."</p><p>Those comments were part of an alleged confession, the inclusion of which <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/venezuela-usa-drugs-idUSL1N1CI1QW" target="_blank">Campo unsuccessfully fought</a>.</p><p>"If those declarations are not thrown out, I'm of the opinion, 100%, that they'll be convicted," Mike Vigil, a former chief of <keyword id="6356001" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="international">international</keyword> operations for the DEA, told Business Insider days prior to the judge's <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/venezuela-usa-drugs-idUSL1N1CI1QW" target="_blank">October 12 decision</a> to include the alleged confessions.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/reason-drug-cartel-members-get-tattoos-2016-10">The surprising economic reason drug cartel members get head-to-toe tattoos</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="YzdjJ2MTE6yH_qyuiiA1yDVsbuFYH48Q" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

'The Americans are hitting us hard with money': US prosecutors say 'narco nephews' motivated by politics, cash

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image"><p class="source"><span>Thomson Reuters</span></p><p class="caption">Efrain Antonio Campo Flores and Franqui Fancisco Flores de Freitas stand with Haitian law-enforcement officers in this November 12, 2015, photo, taken after their arrest in Port Au Prince, Haiti.</p></div><p></p></div></div>A US Drug Enforcement Administration agent testified on Thursday that an investigation of two nephews of Venezuela's first lady started after a drug trafficker cooperating with authorities reported a meeting arranged by her brother, a high-ranking police official.</p><p>The agent testified in Manhattan federal court about the origins of the probe of Franqui Francisco Flores de Freitas and Efrain Antonio Campo Flores as he detailed how two key informants deceived investigators to conduct drug deals.</p><p>DEA Special Agent Sandalio Gonzalez said in court that a cooperating witness, a well-known drug smuggler called El Sentado, told him in October 2015 that a Venezuelan official named Bladimir Flores said he was going to send his nephew to meet with El Sentado.</p><p>"He (cooperating witness) indicated that these individuals wanted to fly drug-laden planes to Honduras with flight plans," Gonzalez said.</p><p>Gonzalez did not provide further detail about the role of Bladimir Flores. He is believed to be the brother of Venezuelan first lady Cilia Flores and serves as <a href="http://www.el-nacional.com/sucesos/Hermano-Cilia-Flores-inspector-Cicpc_0_345565653.html" target="_blank">inspector general</a> of Venezuela's investigative police, known as CIPCP. Bladimir Flores could not be reached for comment by Reuters.</p><p>The testimony came during proceedings in which lawyers for Cilia Flores' nephews sought to suppress evidence against them and statements they gave after their November 2015 arrests, <a href="http://www.insightcrime.org/news-briefs/venezuela-first-lady-s-brother-reportedly-set-up-international-drug-deal" target="_blank">arguing</a> that they were not properly informed of their rights.</p><p>Both men are fighting charges that they worked with others to try to send 1,763 pounds of cocaine from Venezuela to Honduras so it could be imported into the US.</p><p>In court, Gonzalez characterized the nephews as significant drug traffickers.</p><p>"They indicated they had the run of the main airport in Caracas and then could easily dispatch drug-laden planes on the presidential ramp," he said.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins</span></p><p class="caption">Passengers walk at the Simon Bolivar airport in La Guaira, outside Caracas, September 23, 2013.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>But under questioning by the nephews' lawyers, Gonzalez acknowledged a series of problems involving the DEA's reliance on El Sentado and two informants who at its direction posed as Mexican drug traffickers.</p><p>The informants lied throughout the probe about their own drug dealing and one used Venezuelan prostitutes the defendants paid for, he said. Both have since been charged and are incarcerated, he said.</p><p>Gonzalez also said El Sentado failed to record his first meeting with the nephews in October 2015, despite instructions to do so. Prosecutors said El Sentado was killed in Honduras last December.</p><p>Moreover, the implication of Flores' brother, a top law-enforcement official, seems to cast doubt on the portrayal of the nephews of the masterminds of the drug-smuggling scheme in question. While it's possible the nephews could've had influence over procedures at the Caracas airport, <a href="http://www.insightcrime.org/news-analysis/details-revealed-about-venezuela-militarys-massive-drug-smuggle" target="_blank">past investigations</a> suggest that the military and national police keep tight control over what goes on there.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Reuters</span></p><p class="caption">Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro, right, and Nestor Reverol, at the time the general commander of the Venezuelan National Guard, shake hands at the National Assembly in Caracas, January 15, 2016.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>Insight Crime has <a href="http://www.insightcrime.org/news-briefs/venezuela-first-lady-s-brother-reportedly-set-up-international-drug-deal" target="_blank">suggested</a> the nephews' involvement was political cover the role of the Cartel of the Suns, a trafficking organization that is believed to be made up of members of Venezuela's armed forces.</p><p>The nephews' case, an embarrassment for Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro as Venezuela experiences political and economic struggles, was brought last year amid a series of <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/us-indicts-venezuela-officials-drug-trafficking-2016-8" target="_blank">US probes that have linked individuals</a> connected to the Venezuelan government to drug trafficking.</p><p>Earlier this year, US prosecutors <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/us-indicts-venezuela-officials-drug-trafficking-2016-8" target="_blank">unsealed indictments</a> against two high-level Venezuelan officials, accusing them of participating in an <keyword id="6356001" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="international">international</keyword> cocaine-smuggling operation and taking bribes from drug traffickers.</p><p>The country's military has been accused of extensive involvement in the movement of drugs through the country to destinations in the US and Europe. Such allegations also extend to high-ranking government officials.</p><p>In the wake of the unsealing of the indictments early August, Maduro, the Venezuelan president, spurned the charges and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/us-indicts-venezuela-officials-drug-trafficking-2016-8" target="_blank">appointed one of the officials charged</a>, Nestor Reverol, to be interior and justice minister, a role that oversees the country's police forces.</p><p>(Reporting by Nate Raymond in New York; Editing by Peter Cooney)</p>     <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/cocaine-worth-75-million-inside-diamante-encrusted-horse-head-auckland-new-zealand-2016-7">Cocaine worth £7.5 million found hidden inside a diamante-encrusted horse head</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="l5cHFqNDE6hn1iLT8CGXfENvVKOW6hRr" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

You Searched For "Antonio Campos" and got 11 results

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