No Linda Lovelace

The Washingon Post has revealed that "deep throat", Bob Woodward's and Carl Bernstein's source for what would become the Watergate scandal, was the number two man at the FBI, Mark Felt. This confirms what Felt's family told Vanity Fair.

That story undermined Woodward's opportunity to make a splash at Felt's death: "Woodward had prepared for Felt's eventual death by writing a short book about a relationship he describes as intense and sometimes troubling. His longtime publisher, Simon & Schuster, is rushing the volume to press -- but the careful unveiling of the information did not proceed as Woodward or The Post had envisioned."

Felt's motivations are a matter of debate, suggesting revenge was at least as important as were morals in determining his behavior: "Wounded that he was passed over for the top job, furious at Nixon's choice of an outsider, Assistant Attorney General L. Patrick Gray III, as acting FBI director, and determined that the White House not be allowed to steer and stall the bureau's Watergate investigation, Mark Felt slipped into the role that would forever alter his life."

Comments

[Eric the .5b]

Well, darn, looks like I was wrong. It was him.

[Douglas Fletcher]

Jesus, could it be Nixon was undone by someone even more paranoid and resentful than himself?

[Jeff]

I just want an explanation of why this guy is going to get $1 million and Linda Tripp gets brought before a grand jury.

Lying and obstruction is lying and obstruction whether it is about sex or about a coverup of a really stupid crime.

[DavidS]

It's poor old Bob Woodward I feel for. Having heroically protected his source for all these years, he's not even able to cash in an orderly way. Tragic, really.

[Jim Walsh]

I understand Bernstein's ex, Nora Ephron said she not only knew it was Felt all along, she would openly tell anyone who would ask. Sure she was openly flaunting Bernstein's vow to protect Felt's privacy, but hey, it's OK, because Ephron was just practicing feminist empowerment. It's not like some (sneer) man broke his word...

Bitch.

[Warren]

Eric,
I've been slow to accept that DT is in fact one single actual human being. All these years I was convince that Bob conjured him with no more substance than his shadowy reputation. It's kinda cool that he's ruining it for Bob. I don't really understand is why he's waited this long to come forward.

[chthus]

Jeff,

He managed to keep his head down. Statute of limitations, and then some.

What I'm wondering is when this will go away. Or will we at least see that episode of Happy Days, where the fat Al plays his own version deep throat, played in heavy rotation.

[Ranger]

If noone else is gonna ask, then dammit, I will.

Doesn't this revelation completely screw up an entire continuity arc of the X-Files???

😉

[chthus]

Wait, wait, wait. Felt is Cancerman? Now that's a story. I do recall W&B noting he was a heavy smoker. Then again, he's 91, and everybody knows that smoking kills you by age 60, tops.

[R C Dean]

Another waddle down Boomer memory lane. Yawn.

[joe]

Jeff, Felt leaked information about criminal activity by high-level White House figures.

Tripp leaked information about a blowjob.

From your comment, I guess "It's not about the sex, it's about the lying" was a load of crap. What a surprise.

[Brad]

This guy is a hero because he brought down a Republican. If it was a
Democrat, he would be ridiculed.

I believe he needs to be prosecuted, even if he is 91 years old.

The head of investigation giving privileged information to the media? Any investigator in the FBI would be fired immediately!

[joe]

Brad,

That is certainly the case today. But remember, this occured pre-Church committee. The FBI was playing by J. Edgar Hoover's rules back then, and leaking incriminating info about the Bureau's political enemies was standard procedure.

[Mr. Nice Guy]

Why now? My guess is the old fart is terminal. He just wants his last parade before he croaks. Whatever.

[kwais]

This is really not as exciting as it was made to be all these years.

I would have liked to listend to the G. Gordon Liddy show to hear what he has to say about the whole thing.

Any one know if Liddy has spoken about whether he thinks that it was wrong to break into the Watergate hotel?

[R C Dean]

To say that Tripp leaked info about a blowjob is a little disingenuous. She testified about Travelgate and the Kathleen Willey assault, and taped Lewinsky as insurance against White House retaliation.

[chthus]

I think I heard that Liddy's on vacation this week. Don't know if he's made a statement yet.

[joe]

"Travelgate and the Kathleen Willey assault"

Neither of which, unlike Watergate, had any evidence of wrongdoing emerge.

"...insurance against White House retaliation"

Not having any experience with blackmail myself, I have to ask: is it common practice for people who gather incriminating evidence to ward off retaliation to release it to the media, absent any actual retaliation?

[MikeP]

What I don't follow here, and maybe someone can fill me in...

If this guy was high up in the FBI, why was he using the media to do his investigative work? Why wasn't he leading an investigation and prosecution from within the FBI? Did he think he was going to be offed or something?

It appears not illegal but cowardly. This is the kind of person who has a high rank in the main federal law enforcement body?

[fyodor]

MikeP,

Others more knowledgeable than I may have better answers for you, but what occurs to me is that he probably could not conduct such an investigation in secret, that is, without letting on to the folks who needed investigating. He might not have feared being offed (though he might have, too), but he would have had good reason to expect resistance and hostility. Plus, if he was doing it for revenge, then maybe justice was not his top priority, which does tie somewhat into your point.

[Mr. Nice Guy]

joe:

I would think it would be a wise pre-emptive strike on Tripp's part. The Clintons had a very nasty war room, manned by the Hildebeast herself.

That being said, the whole Blowjobgate was indeed a totally stupid waste of time.

[chthus]

kwais,

Liddy is on his show, talking to Al Franken about the Felt admission. He basically states that: he didn't know Felt, thinks Felt should have gone to the Attorney General, doesn't think it's that big of a deal, and thinks that Felt is only semi-lucid and being used by his family now for money.

Highlight: Franken asked Liddy if he would have killed Felt had he been ordered to do so. Liddy says no, of course not.

[joe]

I agree, MNG. If you are a Republican operative like Tripp who sees the gravy train coming to an end, endearing yourself to the conservative movement by generating yet another phoney Clinton scandal could indeed be a wise move.

[Ken Shultz]

"I understand Bernstein's ex, Nora Ephron said she not only knew it was Felt all along, she would openly tell anyone who would ask."

I've long questioned the validity of using spouses as a means of settling any kind of argument. It's source material, no question, but...

...If you asked any of my ex-girlfriends why I did what I did at any point in time, I'd bet dollars to doughnuts that the answer wouldn't have much in common with the facts. ...and for some reason, many of them seem to think that everything I did had something to do with them--has anyone else experienced this phenomenon?

I picture Bernstein's ex-wife, watchin' all this coverage, hearin' 'em all say that no one knew who Deep Throat was...no one except for Woodward, Bradlee and Bernstein, and I picture her thinkin' to herself, "Well I knew...I knew all along!" ...Somehow, the whole Watergate scandal becomes all about her.

...How much you wanna bet that Carl Bernstein's ex-wife--whatever her name is--is a real pain in the ass?

[bigbigslacker]

Watergate was also about sex, only it involved prostitutes instead of subordinates.

Joe, are you really arguing the Clinton sexual harassment allegations were a "phony scandal"? Governor Clinton didn't tell her to "kiss it"? Or do you only disapprove of the part where the perp is grilled on his past sexual history? Or the part where he got caught lying? Were he not president, and were there not an opposition party to help bring the allegations to light, the allegations would have likely gone nowhere. But, that he was being chased by political enemies doesn't make him innocent, or all the women liars. I don't see how an honest person can think Bill was innocent of sexual harassment, or that his adminstration did not try to shut up the "trailer trash", er I mean accusers. That rates up there with defending Nixon.

In short, people using terms like "all for a BJ" and "it was just about sex" are willfully or truly ignorant. Really. I've questioned friends who have made such comments, asking them "do you know why Bill Clinton was being asked if he got a BJ? Why would the court care?" Their answer is always "no", or a deer in the headlights response - all they know is the bumper sticker slogan, and that Republicans are bad, of course.

[joe]

slacker,

The only act Clinton was accused of which involved both reliable evidence and scandalous behavior was the dishonest weaseling he performed at his deposition - which took place after Tripp recorded Lewinsky's conversations.

[Jim Walsh]

I picture Bernstein's ex-wife, watchin' all this coverage, hearin' 'em all say that no one knew who Deep Throat was...no one except for Woodward, Bradlee and Bernstein, and I picture her thinkin' to herself, "Well I knew...I knew all along!" ...Somehow, the whole Watergate scandal becomes all about her.

Funny you should say that...

[Ken Shultz]

Thanks Jim Walsh.

The Huffington Post has already become an indispensable resource!

...everybody says it, maybe because it's true: Her piece reads like it was written by the staff at the Onion, doesn't it?

Ha!

[bigbigslacker]

"The only act Clinton was accused of which involved both reliable evidence and scandalous behavior.."

Yeah, yeah, yeah, but YOU know he was guilty, right? The evidence of his past sexual history did not weigh in his favor, even if one person, besides his wife, actually believed the Lewinsky portion of the story was a vast conspiracy. Either he is guilty of sexual harassment, or Kathleen Willy is a liar. Given no evidence of Kathleen being a liar, and given a "little" evidence B.C. does some amount of thinking with his little head...come on Joe! Admit it! He wanted to play hide the sausage! You know it! And you don't really think the victim's testimony constitutes no "reliable evidence". Admit it, here and now. Get it off your chest. We won't tell anyone in your book club, honest. Come clean, you'll feel better. Let me help you get started. "I, (insert name here), hereby admit my inner belief Bill Clinton was a harasser of women in the work place. And he probably really did do most of the other things those mean-spirited Republicans accused him of, even whitewater, but maybe not the Vince Foster murder nonsense." See, was that so hard? You feel better now, don't you?

[Ken Shultz]

...but did Clinton take a campaign contribution from the Chinese in exchange for withdrawing our navy from the Taiwanese Strait?

That charge still bugs me.

P.S. We all agree that it was morally obnoxious when Clinton executed a retarded kid just to show that he was tough on crime--right?

[joe]

"Wanting to play hide the sausage" isn't criminal, slacker. A complete lack of corroborating testimony of physical evidence was the defining characteristic of every one of the charges of sexual assault or harrassment. Being a horndog is a long way from being a rapist.

"...but did Clinton take a campaign contribution from the Chinese in exchange for withdrawing our navy from the Taiwanese Strait?" Did Bush take a campaign donation from a PLA spy? The Chinese were certainly working to buy influence among party powerbrokers by donating to campaigns, no question, but I've never seen anything to make me think either candidate knew about what was going on.

But yes, that execution was disgusting. Even more disgusting is the fact that it seems to have helped him among the American public.

[panurge]

Funny, I thought it was Hal Holbrook all along.

[Steve]

MikeP,

Easy. If Deep Throat is #2 at the FBI, and the FBI is supposed to be investigating Nixon, but the #1 at the FBI is in the tank for the white house, there's not much you can do, except lead to the WaPo.

[scape]

So this is how it ends: Nora Ephron knew and it was the number 2 at the FBI? Boring. And after all that hype...

Now I'm more interested in who's behind the Linda Lovelace character. How about a film? A seedy mix of pop culture, from politics to porn. Working title: "Felt Up - the Real Deep Throat". Make it a "romantic" comedy - they could even get Ephron to deliver another lame screenplay.

[Last Angry Man]

For the second day in a row, the Washington comPost is running a front-page, glowing report on Felt above the fold. Of course, the Post originally broke the Watergate story a thousand years ago.

This "newsmakers making news" angle is really fucking irritating.