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rfunk at 06:05pm on 31/05/2005 under deep throat, history, journalism, politics, watergate
rfunk at 06:05pm on 31/05/2005 under deep throat, history, journalism, politics, watergateThe big mystery of my lifetime is no longer a mystery -- the Washington Post has confirmed that W. Mark Felt was Woodward & Bernstein's "Deep Throat" source on the Watergate scandal. At the time, Felt was number-two at the FBI.
The 91-year-old Felt's family revealed the news to Vanity Fair, but I didn't buy into it until the Post confirmed it this afternoon; until now nobody expected the Post to revel Deep Throat's identity until after his death.
The news may be a disappointment to the University of Illinois Department of Journalism, however, since their research convinced them beyond doubt that Fred Fielding was Deep Throat. Fielding was deputy to White House Counsel John Dean in the Nixon administration; after the Post broke the story with Deep Throat's help, Dean famously testified to Congress about what he knew.
Addendum: Nixon himself thought Felt was Deep Throat, and said so on his famous Oval Office tapes. Some kid who went to summer camp with Bernstein's son did too and in 1999 had some wordplay to prove it. The Washingtonian thought it was Felt back in 1974, and continued to think so in 2002. For other pre-2005 references to Felt as a top Deep Throat candidate, see this 1992 Atlantic story, and Slate's 1999 and 2002 coverage.
The 91-year-old Felt's family revealed the news to Vanity Fair, but I didn't buy into it until the Post confirmed it this afternoon; until now nobody expected the Post to revel Deep Throat's identity until after his death.
The news may be a disappointment to the University of Illinois Department of Journalism, however, since their research convinced them beyond doubt that Fred Fielding was Deep Throat. Fielding was deputy to White House Counsel John Dean in the Nixon administration; after the Post broke the story with Deep Throat's help, Dean famously testified to Congress about what he knew.
Addendum: Nixon himself thought Felt was Deep Throat, and said so on his famous Oval Office tapes. Some kid who went to summer camp with Bernstein's son did too and in 1999 had some wordplay to prove it. The Washingtonian thought it was Felt back in 1974, and continued to think so in 2002. For other pre-2005 references to Felt as a top Deep Throat candidate, see this 1992 Atlantic story, and Slate's 1999 and 2002 coverage.
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