Someone else has now claimed that they are the legendary “Deep Throat,” the source Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein used to uncover the Watergate scandal:
SANTA ROSA, Calif. (AP) – One of the most enduring mysteries in American politics and journalism may have been solved with word Tuesday that former FBI official W. Mark Felt claims to be Deep Throat, the source for the Washington Post stories that helped bring down President Nixon.
Felt, the No. 2 man at the FBI in the early 1970s, kept the secret even from his family for almost three decades before confiding he was Post reporter Bob Woodward’s source on the Watergate scandal, according to a Vanity Fair article published Tuesday.
“I’m the guy they used to call Deep Throat,” he was quoted as telling lawyer John D. O’Connor, author of the magazine article.
The 91-year-old Felt, who lives in Santa Rosa, is said to be in poor mental and physical health because of a stroke. His family did not immediately make him available for comment, asking the news media to respect his privacy “in view of his age and health.”
I have not really kept up with this mystery as much as some folks have, but I do find it interesting. A while back, Adrian Havill claimed that “Deep Throat” was George H. W. Bush, the 41st President.
The reporters themselves have refused to confirm or deny the claim:
“We’re not going to say anything because we have an obligation to all our sources, to whom we gave our word that they will remain confidential, including Deep Throat, until their deaths,” Bernstein said in a statement released to MSNBC.
Apparently, Mr. Felt has less than noble reasons for outing himself:
His family members thought otherwise, and persuaded him to talk about his role in the Watergate scandal, saying he deserves to receive accolades before his death. His daughter, Joan, argued that he could “make enough money to pay some bills, like the debt I’ve run up for the children’s education.”
Don’t get me wrong, just because he is doing this for the money (or his family is pressuring him to do this for the money) doesn’t mean that it isn’t true. However, Woodward casts a shadow on Mr. Felt’s metal capacity:
Woodward, who had visited with Felt as recently as 1999, refused to confirm or deny, even to the man’s family, that Felt was his source, and wondered whether Felt was mentally competent to decide whether to go public after all these years, the magazine reported.
Something tells me that this could be for real.
UPDATE: Bill Bradlee, editor of The Washington Post during the Watergate time period, has apparently confirmed that Mr. Felt was the source.
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