U. of Illinois. students may have solved 'Deep Throat' mystery

Chicago Sun Times ^ | April 30, 2003 | Thomas H. Lipscomb

[Steely Tom]

BFD.

(steely)

[Cicero]

Interesting. I believe that Deep Throat was mostly imaginary, but it's possible that Fielding leaked a few things--both truth and lies, as this article points out.

[headsonpikes]

Intriguing!

Any mention of a 'grassy knoll'.

;^)

[Gritty]

Too bad a bunch of enterprising students don't go through the reams of clinton papers.

They would probably come up with tons of stuff still prosecutable (instead of beating the dead Nixon horse)!

[Chi-townChief]

I agree - I've also throat that Deep Throat was a literary device for Woodward & Bernstein to attribute all of the leaks to.

[DeFault User]

The other Deep Throat candidate that came out several years ago in a similar article (with lots of research) was Pat Buchanan.

[OldFriend]

PJB has managed to betray most of his supporters so it stands to reason he would betray Nixon.

[AmishDude]

I agree. I believe "Deep Throat" was the second source that the Washington Post required for publication of a story. It is possible that it's a little mushier than that: Maybe as time went on, one particular leaker became more prominent than others.

[Cedric]

There never was a "Deep Throat" Woodward and Bernstein lied about having a source to get their fabrications past their editors.

[lasereye]

Slate has a much longer analysis:

Was Fred Fielding Deep Throat?

[Mr. Bird]

Fielding was General Counsel to Reagan and was appointed by Hastert to the 9/11 investigating commission. My question is, what was his motive, and why did Fielding trust that his identity would be kept confidential? He had made the White House in his thirties, and had every reason to expect an extremely successful career in Washington. If he was Deep Throat, he was taking an immense risk. If he clearly saw what Nixon was capable of (enough to tip off journalists, anyway), what made him think he could escape unscathed?

I can't help but think that both Woodstein's and the FBI notes serve Woodstein's interests. They could easily take stabs at something and attribute it after the fact. The FBI could really only provide useful info if it was given to them by Woodstein.

I guess I'll have to read these little whippersnappers' report....

[joesnuffy]

Too bad a bunch of enterprising students don't go through the reams of clinton papers. They would probably come up with tons of stuff still prosecutable (instead of beating the dead Nixon horse)!

AMEN to that!!!! Startin with Mena, AR as Attorney General....Gov....POTUS... Drugs Sex & Rack'n'Roll and a boxcar load of dead men's bones...and Intrigue...Jack Ryan would tear his hair out...and rent his garments Story of the Millenium just sitting there....waitin'

[HuntsvilleTxVeteran]

Woodward & Bernstein were the ones who tipped off
the Nixon people that Castro had made donations to
the demoncrap party.
So they made news to get rid of a President they
did not like.

[tom h]

Ascribing Deep Throat's identity to Fred Fielding is nothing new. But what the article and the Freeper commentary does not mention is motive.

Fielding had motive because (if my memory serves me correctly) he was not originally a Nixon appointee and not a Nixon confidante. So, unlike Ehrlichman and Haldeman, he would not fall on his sword for the President; instead he was horrified by the taint of illegality and as an honorable American did what he could to expose the corruption.

I think the revelation that it was Fielding will not be a big deal. But it's a shame that no Fred Fielding emerged during 8 years of Clinton Administration corruption and abuse of power. One honest Democrat could have brought down the Administration and ensured impeachment via countless abuse of power counts.

The Democrats' motto: truth and honor be damned, it's power that counts.

[jd777]

Nixon was framed.

[cricket]

"Too bad a bunch of enterprising students don't go through the reams of clinton papers."

. . .good point. . .

[cricket]

"One honest Democrat could have brought down the Administration and ensured impeachment via countless abuse of power counts."

. . .one honest Democrat. . .sounds so reasonable; but the reality is; there are not any.

[SMEDLEYBUTLER]

throat

[Heyworth]

Lucky for him that Bush put out an executive order sealing presidential papers, apparently indefinitely, or until both the former and the current president agree to their release. Used to be 12 years and they were public. No more.