The Art Neuro Weblog

W. Mark Felt In His Heyday
And the Wire services have gone crazy with this story today.
Here's a retrospective on what it's all about:

What was Watergate? The scandal began as a burglary in June 1972 at the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee -- located in the hotel and office complex from which the scandal took its name.

Who was Deep Throat? He was a source of information for Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein -- the first reporters to link the White House under President Richard Nixon to the break-in. Deep Throat met Woodward for cloak-and-dagger interviews in a parking garage, giving him leads and confirming information. Woodward would signal his desire to meet by placing a flowerpot with a red construction flag on his apartment balcony. The hands of a clock would appear on Page 20 of Woodward's copy of the New York Times to indicate when Deep Throat wanted to meet.

Why "Deep Throat"? He was nicknamed for a popular X-rated movie of the early 1970s.

Why is this important? Nixon, facing almost-certain impeachment for helping to cover up the break-in, resigned in August 1974. Forty government officials and members of Nixon's re-election committee were convicted on felony charges. The identity of Deep Throat has sparked endless speculation since then. Former FBI official W. Mark Felt had regularly denied that he was the source.

Naturally, some report shock.

Speaking Tuesday night on MSNBC's "Hardball," former Nixon speechwriter Pat Buchanan labeled Felt a "traitor" for having worked with reporters on stories that did severe damage to the administration.

It was those kind of reactions that led Felt to keep secret for more than 30 years his role as source for Washington Post investigative reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein. Others credited Felt with having performed a great public service at a time when many top government officials were attempting to brush the scandal under the rug.

Scott Armstrong, who worked on the Senate Watergate Committee and helped Woodward and Bernstein report and write "The Final Days," a book about the end of the Nixon administration, said Deep Throat did not supply detailed facts about illegal activities.

But he was invaluable to the reporters who at the outset were alone in attempting to unearth the connections between the White House and the burglary at Democratic National Committee offices in the Watergate complex.

"Only journalists understand how important it is to have someone on the inside," he said. Ben-Veniste noted that in going to the press, Felt was running a big personal risk, because he could have been prosecuted for revealing information "if things had gone the wrong way."

Oh yes. Of course. The there's the score-keeping on the guessing game;

A relative handful of guessers had it right.
Felt was seen as the most likely suspect in "The Bureau: The Secret History of the FBI," a book by Kessler, a former Washington Post reporter; in "Deep Throat: An Institutional Analysis," a 1992 Atlantic Monthly article by James Mann, a former colleague of Woodward's at the Post; and in articles in Washingtonian magazine by its editor, Jack Limpert.

Felt was suspected by the White House, according to the Nixon tapes:

Nixon: "Well, if they've got a leak down at the FBI, why the hell can't Gray tell us what the hell is left? You know what I mean? ... "

Haldeman: "We know what's left, and we know who leaked it."

Nixon: "Somebody in the FBI?"

Haldeman: "Yes, sir. Mark Felt. ... If we move on him, he'll go out and unload everything. He knows everything that's to be known in the FBI. He has access to absolutely everything. ... "

Nixon: "What would you do with Felt? You know what I'd do with him, the bastard? Well that's all I want to hear about it."

Haldeman: "I think he wants to be in the top spot."

Nixon: "That's a hell of a way for him to get to the top."

Felt, in his own memoir, "The FBI Pyramid: Inside the FBI," denied being Deep Throat and said he met with Woodward only once.

LOL. Haldeman was a TOTAL creepazoid toadie fascisto con-weasel in both portrayals in 'All The President's Men' AND 'Dick'.

So why 'fess up now? Pleiades speculates that Mr. Felt is sending an overt message to those with a whistle-blowing kind of conscience: "If you can bring down the Bush Administration, go fo it!"
There you go. Let the power fall.
- Art Neuro