Skip to main content
CNN.com International
The Web    CNN.com      Powered by
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
ON TV
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
U.S.

'Deep Throat' revealed?

From Brian Todd
CNN

image
Vanity Fair reports that W. Mark Felt, a former FBI official, says that he was "Deep Throat."
YOUR E-MAIL ALERTS
Wolf Blitzer Reports
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
White House

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The FBI's former second-in-command, W. Mark Felt, has told his family that he is "Deep Throat," the source of Washington Post stories about the Watergate scandal that's captivated Washington for more than 30 years,Vanity Fair magazine reported Tuesday.

"My grandfather is pleased that he is being honored for his role as Deep Throat with his friend Bob Woodward. He is also pleased with the attention it has drawn to his career and 32 years of service to his country," Felt's grandson Nick Jones said Tuesday.

As definitive as it sounds, a family statement may not answer longstanding questions.

Born in Idaho in 1913, Felt embarked on the classic story of service to country and devotion to family that included law school, marriage, two children and in 1942, a job at the Houston field office of the FBI, a place then controlled by J. Edgar Hoover -- and according to historians, already controversial.

"They were very effective in some ways. On the other hand they broke a lot of laws -- illegal wiretapping, etc. -- and Mark Felt was in counterintelligence, meaning he would go after spies," says author Ron Kessler.

Felt moved to the bureau's Washington headquarters in the early 1960s, but Felt became a favorite of legendary director J. Edgar Hoover and quickly moved up the ranks.

By the time Hoover died in 1972, Felt had ascended to the No. 2 spot.

"He had his own personal motivation, along with the bureau motivation, his motivation being that he had -- I think -- expected to be named director of the FBI," says Nixon's White House attorney Leonard Garment.

But Felt was passed up in favor of Patrick Gray, then William Ruckelshaus.

Felt wrote in his memoirs, that during this entire period, he and his allies had been simmering over Watergate. They believed their investigation had been obstructed, delayed and undermined by Nixon operatives.

With access to information, resentment and a sense of a mission unfulfilled, historians say Felt had motivation to leak to The Washington Post.

"Mark Felt did not want this FBI investigation to be suppressed, and really believed that the country's future was at stake, and that's why I think he helped them," says Kessler.

Felt retired from the FBI in 1973 during the height of the Watergate news coverage.

Later, in newspaper articles and even in his own book, he denied that he was Bob Woodward's mysterious source.


Story Tools
Click Here to try 4 Free Trial Issues of Time! cover
Top Stories
Father guilty of killing 9 of his children
Top Stories
EU 'crisis' after summit failure

CNN US
On CNN TV E-mail Services CNN Mobile CNN AvantGo CNNtext Ad info Preferences
SEARCH
   The Web    CNN.com     
Powered by
© 2005 Cable News Network LP, LLLP.
A Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved.
Terms under which this service is provided to you.
Read our privacy guidelines. Contact us.
external link
All external sites will open in a new browser.
CNN.com does not endorse external sites.
 Premium content icon Denotes premium content.