Watergate's Deep Throat Exposed? Former FBI agent claiming to be Deep Throat comes forward
A man claiming to be "Deep Throat," Woodward and Bernstein's alleged source in the Watergate coverup, has come forward.
According to Vanity Fair and the AP, former FBI official W. Mark Felt, now 91, confided to his lawyer that he was indeed the secretive Watergate figure. When asked why he didn't come forward sooner, felt told he son that he didn't think that being Deep Throat was anything to be proud of.
The Washington Post, the newspaper that initially broke the Watergate story and that currently employs at least two people that know Deep Throat's identity, has not yet commented on the report.
Update: It's kind of disappointing if Deep Throat isn't someone "sexy" like Henry Kissinger, John Dean or William Rehnquist. Of course, who knows if this is even true? Some University of Illinois students who investigate the mystery named Fred Fielding, the deputy counsel to Nixon as their most likely Deep Throat. Until we hear from Woodward & Bernstein, I'm not going to believe any of this.
Update #2: Here is another article with a little more information. Interestingly, this article quotes Felt as denying that he was Throat in a 1999 interview:
"I would have done better," Felt told The Hartford Courant. "I would have been more effective. Deep Throat didn't exactly bring the White House crashing down, did he?"
I'm going to be very careful about believing this report until it's confirmed. Oh, wouldn't that be a perfect legacy - to have multiple people claiming the "honor," so history will never know for sure. This is going to end up like the Hoffa disappearance or the Kennedy assassination, isn't it?
UPDATE: Woodward confirms that Felt is Deep Throat
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Washington Post says former FBI official W. Mark Felt was source for leaked secrets about Nixon's Watergate coverup. Confirmation also comes from Carl Bernstein and Ben Bradlee after published admission. – William Branigin, David Von Drehle
aw man. how anti-climatic. I feel so cheap and used.
Posted by jkhat at May 31, 2005 01:19 PM
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Comments
| # May 31st, 2005 1:26 PM kris |
| Well this Felt guy is kind of a letdown. Maybe Woodward & Bernstein didn't release his name because he was kinda boring. People won't be very excited if Deep Throat isn't someone like Kissinger, Dean or Rehnquist. |
| # May 31st, 2005 2:06 PM Dummy |
| After 31 years, who really cares? |
| # May 31st, 2005 2:12 PM james |
| umm.. a lot of people care. it's been a highly studied and debated topic. i personally know of people that have said that they want to make sure they find out who deep throat is before they die.
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| # May 31st, 2005 2:18 PM KVC |
| Finally we know the answer to the question my generation has pondered for a decade. Bravo Mr Felt without your honesty Watergate would have been swept under the rug. |
| # May 31st, 2005 2:32 PM james |
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| # May 31st, 2005 4:03 PM TheUnabrewer |
| It certainly satisfies a degree of curiosity among some people, but I still feel it has less of an affect on me than who manages the neighborhood 7-11. |
| # May 31st, 2005 5:57 PM kris |
Either Woodward or Bernstein (don't remember who) is writing an article for Thursday's Post about their relationship with Felt and some more behind-the-scenes stuff. Should be interesting, unless, of course, you find this whole thing tedious and meaningless  |