Foreign Correspondence

[otraque]

And DEEP THROAT is( i am fumbling with envelope, o rip it open, yes)
DEEP THROAT is, what is this the #2 man in the FBI!??
Mark Felt is DeepThroat.

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<<Former FBI No. 2 says he is 'Deep Throat' By John Whitesides, Political Correspondent
16 minutes ago



WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former FBI deputy director Mark Felt claims to be "Deep Throat," the legendary source who leaked Watergate scandal secrets to the Washington Post and helped bring down President Richard Nixon, Vanity Fair magazine said on Tuesday.

Unmasking the identity of "Deep Throat," the key Watergate source for Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, would solve one of the greatest political and journalistic mysteries of modern times.

"I'm the guy they used to call Deep Throat," Felt, now a 91-year-old retiree living in Santa Rosa, California, told the author of the Vanity Fair story, lawyer John O'Connor.

Felt's grandson told reporters on Tuesday that his grandfather was "an American hero" for his role in uncovering the Watergate scandal. It is the first time a major potential source has claimed to be "Deep Throat."

Woodward and Bernstein have refused for decades to reveal the name of their source, fueling an intense guessing game by historians and political observers that spawned multiple books, documentaries and investigations.

Only three people -- Woodward, Bernstein and former Post Editor Ben Bradlee -- knew his identity, and they vowed not to name "Deep Throat" until after his death.

"Neither Carl Bernstein nor Ben Bradlee nor I are going to say anything at all regarding the identity of Deep Throat," Woodward, now a managing editor at the Post, said in a statement.

Felt has always been on the short list of potential Deep Throats. The source was instrumental to the Post's reporting on the Watergate scandal that led to Nixon's resignation in August 1974 -- the only resignation of a U.S. president in history.

Nixon resigned after it became clear the U.S. House of Representatives would impeach him for a string of transgressions named after the famous break-in at the Watergate office complex in Washington.

Vanity Fair said Felt's family learned of his role in Watergate in 2002, but the former FBI No. 2 resisted coming forward. His family eventually convinced him that his actions were heroic and he could perhaps profit from the revelation of his role, the magazine said.

Felt's grandson, Nick Jones, told reporters in Santa Rosa that his grandfather was "an American hero who went well above and beyond the call of duty at much risk to himself to save the country from a horrible injustice."

"My grandfather is pleased that he is being honored for his role as Deep Throat with his friend Bob Woodward," Jones said.

Felt's daughter spoke to Woodward, who visited Felt in 1999, by phone more than a half-dozen times to discuss a potential joint announcement, Vanity Fair said.

But Woodward would often begin those conversations with a caveat, the magazine said, saying: "Just because I'm talking to you, I'm not admitting that he is who you think he is."

The magazine said Felt's daughter directly asked Woodward to reveal if her dad was Deep Throat.

"He wouldn't do that," his daughter Joan is quoted as saying. "I said 'If he's not, you can at least tell me that. We could put this to rest.' And he said 'I can't do that."'

The magazine said Woodward was concerned that Felt's family was pushing Felt, whose health and mental sharpness were declining with age, toward exposure against his will.

According to the book "All the President's Men," Woodward and Bernstein's account of their Watergate reporting, "Deep Throat" would often meet Woodward late at night in secluded locations, including underground Washington, D.C., parking lots, to help him with information that kept the reporters moving ahead on the story.

The list of potential Deep Throats -- the nickname came from a porn movie in circulation at the time -- has included then-FBI Director Patrick Gray, Nixon chief of staff Alexander Haig, former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, former Nixon speechwriter Patrick Buchanan and even former President Bush, father of the current president and head of the Republican National Committee during the scandal.

Felt had denied in the past that he was "Deep Throat," but as a top FBI official he would have had access to many of the details of the scandal. He was passed over by Nixon for the top FBI job, giving him a potential motive.>>