But I think Felt had the higher purpose, and has there ever been a deed so important, successful, and so right, for our nation?That all makes a certain amount of sense. But there's another factor. Nixon and Gray were purging all the old Hoover loyalists at the same time. These guys had resources beyond imagination, and many of them felt that Nixon was giving them the shaft.
Hoover had the infamous files for a reason, to protect himself. With Hoover dead, Nixon wasn't intimidated. Perhaps he should have been, or perhaps the agents just said "hell with this guy".
What Felt did is exactly what Hoover would have done if threatened, leak information from his files to the press. As head of the investigative division, Felt had access to everything. As an old Hoover crony, he probably had access to the secret files. These could be used both directly and indirectly, to blackmail information from others. Or even make them come forward. Why exactly did John Dean roll over like Michael Jackson in prison? Conscience? Yeah right, that weasel never had one.
It's all conjecture, but it adds up. The best part is what it does to Woodward and Bernstein's historical role. The Great Heros Of The Media become nothing more than the stalking horses for the Revenge of the Hoover Gang. It's like finding out Lewis and Clark got satellite maps from a time traveler.
-Eric
Nah. The real FBI purge didn't take place until 1977, [though U.S. congressman Hale Boggs disappeared in Oct 1972]after Jimmy Carter had taken office. It included Carter's appointment of William H. Webster as director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation after Hoover's May 1972 death and the installation of Admiral Stansfield Turner as director of the Central Intelligence Agency, followed in July 1979 when Carter asked for the formal resignations of all Cabinet members. He replaced Secretary of the Treasury W. Michael Blumenthal with G. William Miller, Adams with Neil E. Goldschmidt, and Schlesinger with Charles W. Duncan, Jr. In addition, Carter replaced Califano with Harris and appointed Moon Landrieu to replace Harris. Benjamin R. Civiletti replaced Bell, who left voluntarily. All other Cabinet members were reappointed.
FBI assistant director William Sullivan had been scheduled to testify before the House Select Committee on Assassinations. Sullivan was one of six top FBI officials who died in a six month period in 1977. Others who were due to appear before the committee who died included Louis Nicholas, special assistant to J. Edgar Hoover and Hoover's liaison with the Warren Commission; Alan H. Belmont, special assistant to Hoover; James Cadigan, document expert with access to documents that related to death of John F. Kennedy; J. M. English, former head of FBI Forensic Sciences Laboratory where Oswald's rifle and pistol were tested; and Donald Kaylor, FBI fingerprint chemist who examined prints found at the assassination scene.
At least the ones that didn't burn in Hoover's lodge files. But as for the *Personal and Confidential* material kept by Hoover at the office and maiontained by his personal secretary, the recipient and custodian of those files after Hoover's death was...Mark Felt.
You'll want to check out the FReepthread *here*.