Liam Neeson snarls as a ruthless Deep Throat in new Mark Felt trailer

Current headlines might have the American public reminiscing about simpler political times — like Watergate — and the new trailer for Mark Felt: The Man Who Brought Down the White House throws things back to 1974, setting the stage for one of the most infamous acts of government misconduct in U.S. history.

Liam Neeson stars in the film as the titular whistleblower who assisted journalists Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein break news of President Nixon’s attempt to conceal White House involvement in the scandal, which involved the arrest of five men apprehended after breaking into the Democratic National Committee headquarters.

Known as “Deep Throat” to insiders working on the story, the informant’s identity remained a secret until 2005 when it was revealed in a Vanity Fair article that Felt, a former FBI Associate Director, was the man supplying The Washington Post with secret information. The Man Who Brought Down the White House chronicles Felt’s days as the bureau’s second-in-command, grappling with power plays from above that spark his determination to expose presidential misdeeds as a result.

“Whenever the FBI hears a piece of gossip… we’re supposed to write everything down in memos,” Neeson ominously says in the clip. “Your secrets are safe with us.”

At one point, a character asks, “The director of the FBI ordered the FBI to stop its own investigation?” to which Neeson responds: “The White House has no authority over the FBI… No one can stop the driving force of an FBI investigation. Not even the FBI.”

Mark Felt: The Man Who Brought Down the White House, directed by Peter Landesman (Concussion, Parkland) and featuring a robust supporting cast — Diane Lane, Michael C. Hall, Josh Lucas, Tom Sizemore, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Ike Barinholtz, Noah Wyle, Kate Walsh, Bruce Greenwood, Maika Monroe, Brian d’Arcy James — opens in theaters on Sept. 29. Watch the exclusive trailer and check out several never-before-seen images from the film above.