In 1944, while stationed on Adak Island, Joe Cantwell had been one of 28 men named by Lieutenant Fenn as being part of a "ring of degenerates". Russell now has the courtmartial file. Fenn had been caught in flagrante delicto with another man. Fenn (who happened to be Cantwell's roommate) was courtmartialled and named the 28 other men under oath. All of them except Cantwell were kicked out of the military ("Section 8").
Why was Cantwell excused? Bascomb (the Shelley Berman character) says Cantwell must have pulled some strings. But now, in 1964, Cantwell says that he had been the one who originally reported Fenn to Colonel Conyers, the Advocate General (military prosecutor). Cantwell had given secret evidence at Fenn's courtmartial, and Fenn had therefore falsely named Cantwell as part of the ring. At least that's what Cantwell says now, and General Conyers will confirm this.
Bascomb was not one of the men named in 1944 as part of the ring; he was merely stationed there at the time, and for some reason had retained a copy of the courtmartial file and has now given it to Russell's campaign. But Bascomb never mentioned to Russell that Cantwell had given Bascomb a poor evaluation, stopping his promotion. Cantwell says that this is Bascomb's motive for raising the allegations of homosexual activity twenty years later.
The film leaves open whether Cantwell is telling the truth (i.e. that Cantwell had not been part of the ring but rather had helped uncover it) or lying (in which case, Cantwell is presumably either blackmailing or bribing General Conyers).
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