W. Mark Felt is Deep Throat

ABC News | 5/31/1955 | ABC News

[aposiopetic]

If this report is correct, the public has been misled as to the position and motivations of Deep Throat.

Agreed.

[EDINVA]

now that Felt himself - or his family - have outed him, it can easily be confirmed through Bradley, Woodward & Bernstein. If it truly is Felt, and he's outed himself, one assumes the Posties are no longer bound by the confidentiality agreement(s) with him.

btw, Alzheimers patients DO have moments of lucidity and I imagine he shared this with his wife and immediate family a long time ago. I'm sure ole Al Haig is relieved ;)

[alwaysconservative]

I like your deductions, but the bigger question in my mind is WHY is everybody so focused on picking Felt as the "convenient" scapegoat as DT? What does that mean for NOW? Who gains and who loses from this? What does it mean for history?

Full disclosure: I was barely in my teens when this was going on, but I remember my parents saying that Nixon hadn't done anything that scores before him hadn't done (especially LBJ), or worse, and that they LOVED him as a President. Guess I became a Republican early in life through osmosis, LOL!

[B4Ranch]

>>There were alot of Republicans who were more than willing to put the knife into Nixon's back,<<

Had I known the effects that the choking EPA would have on our American economy, I would have stuck the knife in his chest!

We would be burning American oil today and the Saudi's wouldn't have any control over us.

NAFTA would never have been passed, and so much more would never have happened to our major businesses. The cost of homes, cars, darn near everything would be much lower.

[Axhandle]

I admit it. I'm the Lindbergh baby.

[CDB]

Who will ever forget Al Haig telling the world that he was "in charge". Funny, I can visualize him doing this but can't remember why.

Remember, he was Sec State at the time, and thought that he was next in the line of succession after Nixon and Agnew resigned. Under the US Constitution, the Speaker of the House--not Haig--was "in charge."

[Frank T]

"NAFTA would never have been passed, and so much more would never have happened to our major businesses. The cost of homes, cars, darn near everything would be much lower."

Free trade increases the costs of products?

[B4Ranch]

Lets go to a different thread to debate this subject.

You choose which one, then FReep mail me.

[Southack]

"Bernstein was an acolyte of Hiss by virtue of his father's indoctrinations, and it is a bit disconcerting that he in particular should have been a party to the 'Felt Coverup'. Motivation is always important in assessing the relative importance of Right and Left in Nixon's downfall"

Motive existed, in large sums, for both the far Right and far Left to bring hyper-popular Nixon down.

Moreover, multiple coverups are involved (e.g. White House, Deep Throat, Ellsberg, actual Watergate "business," etc.).

The White House used influence illegally. Deep Throat and Ellsberg both illegally leaked classified information and violated government oaths. The Democrats were running a brothel (among other things) out of the Watergate hotel that was staffed with "contractors" and other spooks...Washington, D.C. was a festering hole of corruption and coverups in 1973...by all sides.

[DiamondDon1]

Hello Captain K!

Mark Felt is not "Deep Throat". He may have been used by the actual "Deep Throat" to convey the story to Woodward but he was not in a first hand position to know what "Deep Throat" knew. Here is an e-mail I got from Len Colodny author of "Silent Coup" (the book concluded that Haig was actually "Deep Throat") along with an e-mail from Vanity Fair...

Enjoy!

DD

>>Don,
>>
>>
>>Without doubting that Felt talked to Woodward. The rest of the story
>>makes no sense, that Woodward had a long past relationship with "Deep
>>Throat"is not explained in this story. Why
>>would Felt trust Woodward a metro reporter for only nine months and
then
>>there is the tape
>>gap, the "Deliberate Erasure" how would Felt ever have known that
fact.
>>How Felt would
>>have gone from a confirming source to a direct source is also a
question
>>that needs to be answered. As we said in "Silent Coup" I still think
>>"Deep Throat" is a device to cover those Woodward did actually know,
who
>>had strong motives to see Nixon gone.
>>
>>I think there is a lot more to this revelation than meets the eye,
>>especially just a few months
>>after Joan Hoff challenged Woodward at UT to put "Deep Throat" on
video
>>tape, catching Woodward by surprise. I suspect what we have here is a
>>"red herring".
>>
>>Let us all wait to hear more from Woodward himself.
>>
>>Regards,
>>
>>Len

P.S.

I don't think Felt really says it in the story, which is very
confusing.
Instead, there's a lot of third and fourth hand quotes. Like Felt told
his girlfriend, who later told others. But there's nothing in the story
where Felt tells the writer, "I'm Deep Throat, here's what I did and
why
I did it."

LC





>>Len
>>
>>
>>>-----Original Message-----
>>>From: Hurlbut, Elizabeth [mailto:Elizabeth_Hurlbut@condenast.com]
>>>Sent: Tuesday, May 31, 2005 11:16 AM
>>>Subject: Deep Throat's Identity Revealed - Vanity Fair Exclusive
>>>
>>>
>>>Please click on the URL link below for the full story. Please
contact
>>>Beth Kseniak at 212-286-7297 with any questions.
>>>
>>>http://www.vanityfair.com/pdf/pressroom/advance1.pdf
>>>
>>>
>>>FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
>>>
>>>W. MARK FELT REVEALS HIMSELF TO BE WOODWARD AND BERNSTEIN'S DEEP
THROAT
>>>
>>>New York, N.Y. -- After decades of hiding the truth, even from his
>>>family, W. Mark Felt, number two at the F.B.I. in the early 70s,
reveals
>>>himself to be the source who leaked secrets about Nixon's Watergate
>>>cover-up, telling lawyer John D. O'Connor, the author of Vanity
Fair's
>>>exclusive, "I'm the guy they used to call Deep Throat."
>>>
>>>O'Connor reports that Felt, aged 91, is a retiree living in Santa
Rosa,
>>>California, with his daughter, Joan. After witnessing the decline of
>>>Felt's health and mental acuity, and after receiving his and Joan's
>>>permission to reveal this information, O'Connor decided to write
this
>>>article for Vanity Fair. The Felt family cooperated fully, providing
old
>>>photographs for the story and agreeing to sit for portraits.
>>>
>>>Felt's family did not learn of this aspect of his past until 2002,
when
>>>Felt's close friend and frequent social companion Yvette La Garde
told
>>>Joan that Felt had confided to her he had indeed been Washington
Post
>>>reporter Bob Woodward's source. Joan confronted her father, who
>>>initially denied it, but after she explained La Garde's disclosure
Felt
>>>responded, "Since that's the case, well, yes I am." Then and there,
she
>>>pleaded with him to announce his role immediately so that he could
have
>>>some closure, and accolades, while he was still alive. Felt
reluctantly
>>>agreed, then changed his mind. He seemed determined to take his
secret
>>>with him to the grave.
>>>
>>>Joan tried to elicit further response from her father about his role
as
>>>Deep Throat while they were watching a Watergate TV special. When
his
>>>name came up as the possible informant, she says, she deliberately
>>>questioned her father in the third person: "Do you think Deep Throat
>>>wanted to get rid of Nixon?" Joan says that Felt replied, "No, I
wasn't
>>>trying to bring him down." He claimed, instead, that he was "only
doing
>>>his duty."
>>>
>>>Felt was initially adamant about remaining silent on the subject,
>>>thinking disclosures about his past somehow dishonorable. "I don't
think
>>>[being Deep Throat] was anything to be proud of," Felt indicated to
his
>>>son, Mark junior, at one point. "You [should] not leak information
to anyone."
>>>
>>>Felt told his daughter, Joan, that he worried "what the judge would
>>>think," fearing, perhaps, that a court might look down on his
actions.
>>>
>>>"He was amenable at first," his grandson Nick tells O'Connor. "Then
he
>>>was wavering. He was concerned about bringing dishonor to our
family. We
>>>thought it was totally cool. It was more about honor than about any
kind
>>>of shame [to] Grandpa.... To this day, he feels he did the right
thing."
>>>
>>> O'Connor reports that after learning their father's secret, Joan
and
>>> Mark junior urged him to go public, explaining that they wanted his
>>> legacy to be heroic and permanent, not anonymous, and adding that
>>> perhaps he could profit from his revelations. Felt argued with
them,
>>> saying he didn't want the story out there. Joan recalls saying:
"Bob
>>> Woodward's gonna get all the glory for this, but we could make at
least
>>> enough money to pay some bills, like the debt I've run up for the
kids'
>>> education. Let's do it for the family." With that, both children
>>> remember, Felt finally agreed. "He wasn't particularly interested,"
>>> Mark says, "but he said, 'That's a good reason.'" The Felt children
>>> were motivated by the desire to have their father's legacy
permanent
>>> and heroic, not anonymous.
>>>
>>>At that time, Felt agreed to cooperate, but only with the assistance
of
>>>Woodward, now assistant managing editor at The Washington Post.
Acceding
>>>to Felt's wishes, Joan and O'Connor spoke to Woodward by phone on a
>>>half-dozen occasions over a period of months about whether to make a
>>>joint revelation, possibly in the form of a book or an article.
O'Connor
>>>says that Woodward would sometimes begin these conversations with a
>>>caveat, saying, "Just because I'm talking to you, I'm not admitting
that
>>>he is who you think he is."
>>>
>>>According to O'Connor, Woodward's chief concerns were: Was this
>>>something that Joan and O'Connor were pushing on Felt, or did he
>>>actually want to reveal himself? And, was Felt actually in a clear
>>>mental state? To make his own assessment, Woodward told Joan and
>>>O'Connor, he wanted to come out and sit down with her father, whom
he
>>>had not seen since August 1999, around the 25th anniversary of
Nixon's
>>>resignation. At that time, Woodward had appeared at the house
>>>unannounced, telling Joan he was a friend of her father's. Felt had
been
>>>dodging reporters all week but seemed totally comfortable with
Woodward,
>>>and even went to lunch with him.
>>>
>>>In recent years, Woodward spoke by telephone to Joan, Mark junior,
and
>>>twice to Felt himself "without anyone else listening," says Joan.
"Dad's
>>>memory gradually has deteriorated since the original lunch, [but]
Dad
>>>remembered Bob whenever he called.... I said, 'Bob, it's unusual for
Dad
>>>to remember someone as clearly as you.'" She says that Woodward
>>>responded, "He has good reason to remember me."
>>>
>>>According to Joan, Woodward later scheduled two visits to see her
>>>father, but had to cancel both times, then never rescheduled. "That
was
>>>disappointing," she says. "Maybe [he was] just hoping that I would
>>>forget about it." Joan and Woodward still correspond by e-mail, she
>>>says, and Joan thinks very highly of him. "He's so reassuring and
>>>top-notch," she says.
>>>
>>>During one phone conversation, O'Connor reports Joan said to
Woodward:
>>>"'Bob, just between you and me, off the record, I want you to
confirm:
>>>was Deep Throat my dad?' He wouldn't do that. I said, 'If he's not,
you
>>>can at least tell me that. We could put this to rest.' And he said,
'I
>>>can't do that.'"
>>>
>>>Mark junior tells O'Connor: "Making the decision [to go to the
press]
>>>would have been difficult, painful, and excruciating, and outside
the
>>>bounds of his life's work. He would not have done it if he didn't
feel
>>>it was the only way to get around the corruption in the White House
and
>>>Justice Department. He was tortured inside, but never would show it.
He
>>>was not this Hal Holbrook [who played Deep Throat in All the
President's
>>>Men] character. He was not an edgy person. [Even though] it would be
the
>>>most difficult decision of his life, he wouldn't have pined over
it."
>>>
>>>O'Connor reports that Yvette La Garde shared Felt's secret with her
>>>eldest son, Mickey, a retired army lieutenant colonel based at NATO
>>>military headquarters (requiring a top-secret security clearance).
>>>Mickey La Garde tells O'Connor that he has remained mum about the
>>>revelation ever since: "My mom's condo unit was in Watergate and I'd
see
>>>Mark," he tells O'Connor. "In one of those visits, in 1987 or '88,
she
>>>confided to [my wife] Dee and I that Mark had, in fact, been the
Deep
>>>Throat that brought down the Nixon administration. I don't think
Mom's
>>>ever told anyone else."
>>>
>>>The July issue of Vanity Fair hits newsstands in New York on June 8
and
>>>nationally June 14.
>>>
>>>
>>>

---

>>>Elizabeth Hurlbut
>>>Public Relations Assistant
>>>Vanity Fair
>>>212-286-6051 phone
>>>212-286-4701 fax

[Southack]

"now that Felt himself - or his family - have outed him, it can easily be confirmed through Bradley, Woodward & Bernstein. If it truly is Felt, and he's outed himself, one assumes the Posties are no longer bound by the confidentiality agreement(s) with him."

Indeed. You might take note that your above sources are COMPLETELY unwilling to confirm Felt as DT.

[Sangria]

Is he proud of himself for what he did? He should be arrested.

[alwaysconservative]

Did I mention that I am the sole surviving descendant of Princess Anastasia, the presumably murdered future czarina of Russia who really escaped? (grin!)

[I. M. Trenchant]

No doubt you're right that there was a multiplicity of factors involved, but I think the most important SINGLE factor in bringing about Nixon's downfall was DT, the sine qua non so-to-speak. Would you give me your opinion about this? Do you think there was any other SINGLE factor that equaled DT in importance, and if so, will you share with me what you think it was? I'd be truly interested to know if you think DT was NOT the SINGLE most important factor in destroying the Nixon presidency.

[Jedidah]

As a solid conservative, I felt deceived and undermined by the corruption in Nixon's administration. I watched the whole thing unfold and felt betrayed. This was not some two-bit scandal, but wholesale disrespect for the law.

I've never understood how people can defend Clinton's disgusting behavior in the Lewinsky affair. What is wrong is wrong, regardless of politics. What Nixon and his crew did was go-to-prison wrong.

Not only were White House insiders financing the commission of felonies, Nixon himself had his personal lawyer, Kalmbach, flying around the country raising funds to pay out as hush money to those who knew what had happened. The whole thing was disgusting.

This is not, and was not, about politics. It was about disrespect for the law in the highest office in the land.

For those younger than me who may not have lived through that era, there's plenty of written history on Watergate available, and it's fascinating. If you don't remember 1972-74, read and decide for yourself before blaming anyone for bringing Nixon down. Nixon did it to himself. This is one case in which you should blame the perpetrators, not the messenger.

Among good sites with many links:

http://www.americancivilrightsreview.com/govlieswatergate.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/watergate/front.htm

http://www.chron.com/content/interactive/special/watergate/index.html

[Southack]

"Do you think there was any other SINGLE factor that equaled DT in importance, and if so, will you share with me what you think it was? I'd be truly interested to know if you think DT was NOT the SINGLE most important factor in destroying the Nixon presidency."

My *opinion* is that Nixon was responsible for the Ellsberg burglary, not the 3 Watergate wiretapping (nothing was ever taken from Watergate, so it wasn't a "burglary") break-ins.

The case for the Ellsberg burglary would have eventually made it through the system to bust Nixon. Rehnquist worked personally on that case, so it was taken seriously at the highest levels.

DT and Watergate sped that process up by injecting Congress and the press directly into the fray.

So to be technical (in my opinion), the single-most important factor in Nixon's personal downfall was the Ellsberg break-in.

DT, on the other hand, was the single-most important factor for forcing Nixon to be punished (i.e. resign) while still in office.

Had DT been an idealist, one would have expected him to have busted Nixon for the Ellsberg break-in, and to have done so publicly.

But DT neither made his accusations openly in public nor hit Nixon for the break in at Ellsberg's shrink's office.

Instead, a convoluted series of events appear to have been engineered...revolving around a brothel that Democrats were running for their own political blackmail via the Watergate hotel.

Certainly the plumbers "caught" inside the Watergate were far-Rightists, for instance. Pay particular note to the anti-Castro-Cuban contingent in that group. Note that a top GOP fundraiser was also caught with that group.

Thus, Watergate had all the hallmarks of a plot to bring nixon down from the Right...in a location that would bring embarassment to the Left (i.e. the Watergate brothel).

In addition, keep in mind that the far Right was sympathetic to the Ellsberg break in. Ellsberg did an enormous amount of damage to this country by leaking the Pentagon Papers. Note that Nixon wasn't busted for going after Ellsberg. That's no coincidence.

[self_evident]

That incident was during Reagan's presidency on the day he was shot. If I remember correctly, he meant only that he was in charge of the information gathering and press briefing at the WH, but the press hated him as much as they hate W, and blew it out of proportion.

[I. M. Trenchant]

I gave reasons for why I think it matters -- a lot -- in posts #413 and #457 of this thread, and those reasons were apparently persuasive to another Freeper (post #440) who, at first, thought it didn't much matter. For what it may be worth, I draw these posts to your attention. I'm probably about your father's age and my feelings about Nixon were no doubt similar to his, as were the views of most of the rank-and-file of the GOP at that time when the party was much less conservative than it is now.

[I. M. Trenchant]

I gave reasons for why I think it matters -- a lot -- in posts #413 and #457 of this thread, and those reasons were apparently persuasive to another Freeper (post #440) who, at first, thought it didn't much matter. For what it may be worth, I draw these posts to your attention. I'm probably about your father's age and my feelings about Nixon were no doubt similar to his, as were the views of most of the rank-and-file of the GOP at that time when the party was much less conservative than it is now.

[CaptainK]

It is odd that they wait until dementia had set in before breaking the news. Add to this the sliminess of Woodward and Bernstein and their continued precious silence. I just like the fact that it takes the wind out of their sails because so many will believe Felt is the one.