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Would the Real Deep Throat Please Stand Up?

W. Mark Felt Claims He is Deep Throat

In 1999 a high school senior in New York claimed that Carl Bernstein’s son let the secret slip at a summer camp that “Deep Throat” was W. Mark Felt. At the time, Felt denied it.

In July of 2003, former Washington Post investigative reporter Ronald Kessler published The Bureau: The Secret History of the FBI. In the book, Kessler claims that his FBI sources said that Deep Throat may have been Mark Felt, the number-two man in the FBI until June 1973.

And now, at the age of 91, W. Mark Felt has come forth to claim that he was indeed Woodard and Bernstein’s secret source:

W. Mark Felt, 91, who was second-in-command at the FBI in the early 1970s, kept the secret even from his family until 2002, when he confided to a friend that he had been Post reporter Bob Woodward’s source, the magazine said.

“I’m the guy they used to call Deep Throat,” he told lawyer John D. O’Connor, the author of the Vanity Fair article, the magazine said in a news release.

Woodward and Bernstein said documents naming “Deep Throat” would be kept secure at an undisclosed location in Washington until the source’s death.

So, why has the W. Mark Felt decided to reveal himself now? According to his family:

Felt’s children, Joan and Mark Jr., urged him to go public after he revealed his secret to them in 2002.

Felt argued with them, O’Connor writes, saying he didn’t want the story out there.

But Joan is quoted as saying that “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.”

O’Connor adds that Felt finally agreed, saying “that’s a good reason” even though Mark Jr. recalls him as saying “he wasn’t particularly interested” in disclosing the secret.

***
UPDATE: The Washington Post has confirmed that Felt is indeed “Deep Throat”.

UPDATE II: Mary at Angle Dressed in Black chimes in with her thoughts:

…his daughter and other family members seem to think Felt is a hero, as well as the MSM, I don’t.

He’s a footnote in American history, and not an entirely noble one.

You know, that’s more-or-less exactly how I feel too.

Posted by Robbie Cooper on Tuesday, May 31st, 2005 | Trackback |

9 Responses to “Would the Real Deep Throat Please Stand Up?”

I guess it depends on your opinion of whistleblowers in general and the relative importance you put on loyalty versus a respect for the law.

Left by Preston on June 1st, 2005 at 8:58 am

Loyalty vs a respect for the law …

He wasn’t loyal, but that’s understandable. However, he didn’t have a respect for the law either. If he would have had a respect for the law, he would have handled the matter legally instead of clandestinely with the press. We all have this choice at some level. I sure do with my job.

I’ll be eager to hear from Woodward.

Left by dianne on June 1st, 2005 at 9:49 am

I don’t know if it was necessary for him to jeopardize his career at the FBI in order to shine a light on the practices of the Nixon Administration.

I think society benefits if there is a higher degree of transparency to government and other institutions. This occasional demands anonymous sources to report on secret operations.

Left by Preston on June 1st, 2005 at 10:26 am

If this had been Clinton instead of Nixon, I doubt you’d be singing the same song Preston. According to the Washington Post, he did it because he was passed over for the top job at FBI..not out of his legal concerns. We’ll see what Woodward has to say.

Left by dianne on June 1st, 2005 at 11:10 am

I don’t know- it’s a pretty sordid affair.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/crime/caseclosed/watergate.shtml

I would like to think that I would oppose the crimes involved regardless of the perpetrator.

Left by Preston on June 1st, 2005 at 1:14 pm

Good article. There is no doubt Nixon et al were guilty of sordid crimes.

Well, I’m not in a position to know the motives of anyone or the facts. If I feared for my life or the life of my family, for example, all bets are off as far as how I’d handle the situation. But, if it was just my job that was threatened,…well, I’d like to think I would expose the crimes regardless of the perpetrator.

Actually, this is a really interesting development and the way it came out is interesting too. I am really eager to hear from Woodward. I know somebody who will have another #1 bestseller!

Left by dianne on June 1st, 2005 at 1:58 pm

Just heard that Woodward will be on Imus in the Morning tomorrow…lol…of all places.

Left by dianne on June 1st, 2005 at 3:44 pm

Listened to Woodward and Bernstein. Appears Felt was afraid if he tried legal channels, he’d be stopped. They were not at all critical of him nor were they critical of his (and family’s) desire to make some money off of this at this time. Of course they made their careers based on his assist, but I still think this ends any further speculation or distrust on my part about Felt’s motives, etc.

Left by dianne on June 2nd, 2005 at 8:47 am

Interesting. Thanks for the info- I hope I catch them some time. I could stand to learn some more about the whole episode.

Left by Preston on June 2nd, 2005 at 9:20 am

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