Ha, I've just begun reading it and oh my… the charade continues!

Woodward: " In 1970, when I was serving as a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy and assigned to Adm. Thomas H. Moorer, the chief of naval operations, I sometimes acted as a courier, taking documents to the White House."

Jim Hougan in his 1984 book "Secret Agenda", pp. 296-7, describes Woodward's assignment as much more than a mere courier:

"…during his year at the Pentagon, he was one of a handful of officers chosen by the Navy to brief the government's most important intelligence officials on events and operations around the world. On a rotational basis, these officers would arrive at the Pentagon at 2:30 A.M., review the day's traffic and prepare a summation, or narrative, of its most important elements. At 8:00 A.M., the officer whose turn it was would go to any of several locations, including the CIA, the National Security Agency and the White House. There he would present the Navy's views, sometimes briefing special committees, more often speaking to a single individual: to the director of the CIA or the NSA, for example, or to the President's National Security Adviser or his principal deputy."

Fox News ought to get Jim Hougan on as an expert along with J. Rosen – there is so much in the last 2 days' events that he has already debunked from his research back in 1984.

The hoax of the (21st) century is looking more like the mother of all coverups! Sheesh, I wonder how long this deception has been in the planning stages. Reminds me of the old USSR's "five year plans."

More reason why the actual Deep Throat was not in the FBI:

Jim Hougan, "Secret Agenda" pp. 284-285:

"The FBI's top echelon and many of its agents can be eliminated from consideration, since it was they who first developed the lines of investigation leading to Baldwin.* Their reports, including interviews with Baldwin, were disseminated throughout the bureau. Contrary to what Woodward says, therefore, Throat did not have sources in the FBI- or if he did, their reports to him were perfunctory at best."

"…one of the most critical and newsworthy developments in the Watergate affair was *Alfred Baldwin's blockbuster confession concerning the electronic eavesdropping that he had conducted [from the Howard Johnson's across the street, with McCord, listening to the nearby Columbia Plaza call girl ring's conversations on Spencer Oliver's office phone while he was out of his DNC office], the earlier May [1972] break-in and much more, but, like everyone else, Woodward and Bernstein did not learn about Baldwin until the Democrats held a press conference on the subject in September [1972]. Which is to say that insofar as Woodward was concerned, Deep Throat watched for nearly three months as his friend proceeded on the wrongheaded assumption that the Watergate arrests were the outcome of a failed attempt to place bugs inside the DNC…."

My note: Mark Felt retired from the FBI in 1973, according to the Vanity Fair article by O'Connor. So, since he was still at the FBI during 1972, why would he not have told Woodward of Baldwin? More likely, if Deep Throat was a White House and/or CIA source, they would not have known of the FBI's investigation of Baldwin. Perhaps that's one piece of data that Patrick Gray did not share with John W. Dean, and thus the WH didn't know about Baldwin's secret confession to the FBI in exchange for immunity. (I can't remember if Baldwin's immediate boss, McCord, knew.) Whew – who knew what when again!

Read Ben Stein's column.

And the comments by Henry Kissinger.

I agree with both...among others.

Felt just seems too much a career employee with an eccentric and paranoid personality who sought revenge for his thwarted assumptions that he'd be named head of the FBI, and then lied about his involvement in Watergate (among other things) for several decades.

Why he thinks that he's going to be regarded well now seems an aspect of his dementia, and representational of the financial demands of his family, more than anything else.

Woodward (nor Bernstein) does not get a pass, either, from me.

In a nutshell (!), I think Felt is sticking it to law enforcement and to the U.S. government. He's just sticking it to them, like, "jab, jab, see that? See there? See what I can do?!"

Because he defiles and has many aspects of credible law enforcement, and I think that's a large part of what his motivations are and were.

Hi, fellow nightowl! Thanks for the link on Kissinger's comment. Yes, I had already linked Ben Stein's in the earlier Deep Throat thread at wizbang, yesterday. Watergate had far reaching consequences. So much of it is still unknown by the general public, those who were spoonfed by Woodward and the rest of the MSM then, and those who were born since then, who haven't realized the importance of any of this. Layers upon layers of deception, still not recognized. (If you want to get at least part of the big picture, read Jim Hougan's book, "Secret Agenda." It's out of print, but still available via amazon, etc.)

Well, I'm off to bed.

Yes, greetings, BR, but having just awoken a few hours ago, this is still morning for me, so I'm more of an early bird than a night owl, I'm thinking.

Yes, I'd like to procure a copy of that text, will go look for it. It is an interesting opportunity today to bring into public discourse most that was (to use a Jay Tea expression and issue) "heckled" out of awareness in previous decades. I think the entire prior conspiracy paranoia distortions of the past may just be clarified in our present, at least I am hoping.

It's likely that there were several persons acting as "Deep Throat," from what some people have been saying today, yesterday. More food for thought.

Found it on Amazon, sharing the link in case anyone else is interested (I expect they are):

"Secret Agenda: Watergate, Deep Throat, and the CIA" -- by Jim Hougan

I'm just disgusted by all selfish manipulations - Felt desperately trying to hawk his story for money before its too late, Woodward all flustered because he was supposed to reveal the secret in a new, profitable book, while Bradlee says the jig is up, let's just admit it.

I wonder how the current crop of "journalists" would have handled Felt if this had happened nowadays.

I'm just disgusted by all these selfish manipulations - Felt desperately trying to hawk his story for money before its too late, Woodward all flustered because he was supposed to reveal the secret in a new, profitable book, while Bradlee says the jig is up, let's just admit it.

I wonder how the current crop of "journalists" would have handled Felt if this had happened nowadays.

Hee - bloggers never sleep! This time, though, Foxnews and even Aaron Brown on MSNBC seem to be ahead of us. J. (or is it Jay or Jason?) Rosen on Brit Hume's Special Report last night mentioned the Mullen Co. - I only heard the tail end of it unfortunately. And Aaron Brown listed about 8 points debunking the idea that Mark Felt is THE Deep Throat. He may have met with Woodward, but he was certainly not the "main thrust" :) See my stuff in the last thread, I've quoted a lot from Hougan's book - you can get a taste of what's in store for you when you find it.

Okay, now I'm going to bed. (Reminds me of election night here at wizbang. Where's the rest of the gang!)

Yes, Palmateer! But I read it's more the family pushing for money than old Mr. Felt. They've been badgering him for years! See my link in the last thread to Captainsquartersblog.com - even more details on the family's earlier attempts to make money off of this.

Going to bed now, really! Hope I don't dream of a deep throat!

It's interesting to view the arch-betrayers now arch-betraying one another...Woodward, Felt, WAPO, scrambling to maintain the financial windfall. They'll all profit but I hope that there are many other more revealing/competitively themed publications that defeat this arch-betrayal-purse-snatching. Which is what it now seems to be.

Okay, now that we know who Deep Throat is, maybe we can turn our attention to another, even more pressing thirty-two year old question: who was Carly Simon singing about in the song "You're So Vain"?

While googling for Foxnews' James Rosen, I found that Jim Hougan himself has now weighed in on the present scene (apparently in a widely distributed e-mail obtained and posted by a leftie at a site called cannonfire. Scroll down to "More on Mark Felt…."): there. And he's in touch with James Rosen! Wow, wishes do come true.

CBSgate ties to Watergate: Ever since CBSgate, I've noticed that the old ghosts of Watergate were back (e.g., ex-Nixon WH counsel John W. Dean III surfaced again as an attacker of another Republican president via the Plame/Wilson affair and mentioned Watergate DNC lawyer Joseph Califano's legal strategy during Watergate in his Salon.com article; Joseph Califano, himself, on the Board of Viacom, CBS's parent company, possibly instrumental in CBS damage control - Thornburgh Report whitewash).

See "Lawyers as Operatives" at wizbang in Jan. 05: here and
here. Jim Hougan's quoted footnote shows the CIA ties to many of the Watergate players – mainly those who attacked Nixon or "helped" him detrimentally, just like the anti-Bush CIA faction did it in 2003-2004 with first the Wilson setup, then the Wilson/Plame followup, then an aborted October surprise, then Al Qaqaa, possibly CBSgate itself. Good article: "The CIA's War on Bush", 11/17/04 by Clarice Feldman.

I love this Blog!...

Before we go too far blaming Felt for being self-centered and money-hungry, he's 91 years old now. He was hardly a young man at the time, and his decision to come forward now seems more a result of his daughter prodding him (yes, she DOES seem to want money out of it) than out of his own free choice.

I recall my grandfather at Felt's age, he wasn't exactly mentally clear.

As far as the information running the wrong way, keep in mind that mostly Felt confirmed or denied information Woodward and Bernstein already had. He mostly just dropped the bomb that Nixon was involved in the break-in, had in fact paid one of the burglars thousands of dollars, and was covering it up.

In light of which, by the way, who was the arch-betrayer? The guys who blew the whistle, or the guy who had the whistle blown on his planting bugs on his political opponents?

Nixon did not order the Watergate burglaries or bugs. He found out about it the same morning the public found out about the arrests. From Hougan's book, it is clear that John Dean was agent provocateur for much of the illegalities and the ONLY one to accuse Nixon of knowing beforehand. The media went with that, even though it wasn't proven, only Dean's hearsay. In later years, his co-hort, Magruder, "confirmed" it. Magruder had changed his story many times and was in fear of his life (seen from his reaction when asked about certain aspects of Watergate, while in prison with Hunt et al). Read the book, don't go on what the general impression is years later after the MSM spoonfed the public in 72 and since.

I am no fan of Nixon, he had many faults. But his involvement in Watergate was the post-arrest coverup and obstruction of justice. Dean convinced him that his long-time friend, John Mitchell, was responsible. Thus Nixon, in an attempt to be loyal to Mitchell, went with Dean's plans for coverup.

The real coverup, not by Nixon, was by the anti-Nixon faction in the CIA of many, many other matters related to The Plumbers, Hunt, McCord, the Columbia Plaza/DNC prositute ring - possibly part of MK Ultra/LSD testing on unwitting citizens/blackmail data via prositutes - and the CIA front/Mullen Company's activites regarding the Hughes account takeover from DNC Chairman, Lawrence O'Brien.

Remember when Dean lost the suits against Liddy and another one against St. Martin's Press - when Dean claimed to be protecting his wife's honor? (Mo Biner, later Maureen Dean, had shared an apartment with the Columbia Plaza madam. I can't tell yet if she was part of a possible MK Ultra op there, or if she was an innocent roommate.) Article entitled "Liddy Challenges Dean's Version Of Watergate Events by Len Colodny" at Watergate.com, here and here.

For the "arch-betrayer" folks: Ken Duberstein, Reagan's chief of staff, on Felt:

"Mark Felt is a hero. He put America first.

Duberstein said that, in reading all the media reports of the last few days, he put himself back in his shoes as White House chief of staff. He thought, with the information Felt had in front of him, "What options did he have?" "He couldn't go to the White House Chief of Staff (Haldeman or Ehrlichman); he couldn't go to the Justice Department (John Mitchell); he couldn't go to the White House Counsel (John Dean). He did something responsible. The congressional committees hadn't been formed yet. What do you do? Felt put America first."

And more from Robert George's analysis:

Are Felt's motives suspect because he was upset that he was passed over to succeed J. Edgar Hoover? Perhaps, but it wasn't just that Felt wanted the top job. It was also that he believed that someone coming from the White House would be more likely beholden to the White House than to the Bureau -- which is exactly what happened with Nixon's pick L. Patrick Gray, who ended up resigning for destroying evidence.

Why is our pet troll, mantis, getting his knickers all twisted over this? It wasn't even Felt. And if it were, he was just as dirty as the Plumbers. He got convicted in the late 70s for authorizing black bag jobs by the FBI on The Weather Underground's family members, which took place at the same time the Plumbers were doing their dirty deeds. The pot and the kettle? And if it were Felt, why did he resign from the FBI in mid 1973?

Ben Bradlee, Woodward and Bernstein don't have all their ducks in a row yet. These first few days of tv show appearances (and Woodward's 6/2/05 article linked by Kevin in the main post) since the 5/31/05 "Mark Felt = DT" revelation, are interesting in their contradictions.

When asked about the fact that Felt left the FBI in June '73, but (according to Woodward's book, pg. 333) Deep Throat gave "deliberate-erasure-in-WH-tapes" info to Woodward in Nov '73 - five months after Felt was off the FBI lines, Woodward couldn't explain it on NBC's Today Show, 6/2/05:

"Carl and I are going to tell the full story. We're working out details of how we do this."

****
Yup, that one is going to take some explaining. There are many more contradictions occurring in plain sight.

But the funniest was this Freudian slip by Bradlee on Sunday 6/5/05 CBS Face the Nation. PDF of transcript available there:

"Mr. BRADLEE: Well, I think that proves that Bob Woodward was a reporter before he even knew it himself. I mean, it was his instincts to develop friendships and contacts with people, and he was very good at that. I would like to quibble with John Dean's thing. John has identified a whole lot of people in his career as Deep Throat, and the idea that when he says that Deep Throat was wrong many times, I don't believe that, and I certainly don't believe that he was wrong in any significant case. Any information that we got from Dean turned out to be right, period."

I couldn't believe my ears when I heard it on video – "any information that we got from DEAN…." Then I checked CBS's own transcript, and sure enough, he said it. Right after he had just called him by his first name, "John." And right after having twice said the phrase "Deep Throat" in that same sentence, so it's not like Bradlee would blush at having to articulate it.

More contradictions:

MSNBC Abrams Report 5/31/05:

"NICK JONES, MARK FELT‘S GRANDSON: Mark had expressed reservations in the past about revealing his identity and about whether his actions were appropriate for an FBI man. But as he recently told my mother, I guess people used to think “Deep Throat” was a criminal, but now they think he‘s a hero…."

Compare to Excerpt from CBS FACE THE NATION, August 29, 1976 video clip shown on Face the Nation 6/5/05:

"Mr. MARK FELT: No. No, I am not Deep Throat and the only thing I can say is that I wouldn't be ashamed to be because I think whoever helped Woodward helped the country. No question about it."

So, in 1976 Felt says he wouldn't be ashamed, but in 2005, his grandson says Felt has kept quiet all this time because he felt his actions were inappropriate.

On 6/30/05 USA Today scooped WP by reviewing Woodward's new book before it was publicly available. Almost every paragraph in the review raises my eyebrows in disbelief. If this is truly what Woodward claims in his book, it won't fly.

USA Today article here and printable version there.