W. Mark Felt (a younger and older version posted above) was neither a true hero nor a real villain either.
The former FBI second-in-command who revealed himself as "Deep Throat" three decades after he tipped off reporters to the Watergate scandal that toppled a president, died late last week.
He was 95.
Felt died Thursday, 12-18-2008, in Santa Rosa after suffering from congestive heart failure for several months.
While some, including Nixon and many of his aides, speculated that Felt was the source who connected the White House to the June 1972 break-in at the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee, he steadfastly denied the accusations until finally coming forward in May 2005.
Ironically enough, Felt was NOT against unwarranted wiretaps and break-ins, having ordered such against numerous domestic terrorists while working in the FBI’s Domestic Spying Program for over a decade.
He felt strongly that the Nixon administration engaged in criminal misconduct and that the FBI’s initial probe was moving along too slowly.
Personally, I still believe the Watergate break-ins were much to do about nothing.
For all his self-aggrandizing flaws, Felt was a stand-up guy. In 1976, W. Mark Felt publicly stated he’d ordered the break-ins and warrantless wiretaps of various domestic terrorist organizations, including members of the Weather Underground, and that individual agents were merely obeying orders and shouldn’t be punished for it.
Felt also stated that acting FBI Director L. Patrick Gray had also authorized the break-ins, but Gray denied this. Felt said on the CBS television program Face the Nation that he would probably be a "scapegoat" for the Bureau's work. "I think this is justified and I'd do it again tomorrow", he said on the program. While admitting the break-ins were "extralegal", he justified it as protecting the "greater good."
At the time, Felt said, “To not take action against these people and know of a bombing in advance would simply be to stick your fingers in your ears and protect your eardrums when the explosion went off and then start the investigation.”
Felt was subsequently indicted on charges of authorizing FBI break-ins at homes associated with suspected bombers from the 1960s radical group the Weather Underground. President Ronald Reagan pardoned Felt in 1981 while the case was on appeal - a move applauded by then former President Nixon.
For his actions against domestic terrorists, INCLUDING his extra-legal actions (warrantless break-ins and wiretaps) he remains an American hero.
For his major part in highlighting a minor crime (Watergate) and divulging his identity in May of 2005, at age 92, and not taking that secret to his grave, he’s probably at least part villain.
The former FBI second-in-command who revealed himself as "Deep Throat" three decades after he tipped off reporters to the Watergate scandal that toppled a president, died late last week.
He was 95.
Felt died Thursday, 12-18-2008, in Santa Rosa after suffering from congestive heart failure for several months.
While some, including Nixon and many of his aides, speculated that Felt was the source who connected the White House to the June 1972 break-in at the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee, he steadfastly denied the accusations until finally coming forward in May 2005.
Ironically enough, Felt was NOT against unwarranted wiretaps and break-ins, having ordered such against numerous domestic terrorists while working in the FBI’s Domestic Spying Program for over a decade.
He felt strongly that the Nixon administration engaged in criminal misconduct and that the FBI’s initial probe was moving along too slowly.
Personally, I still believe the Watergate break-ins were much to do about nothing.
For all his self-aggrandizing flaws, Felt was a stand-up guy. In 1976, W. Mark Felt publicly stated he’d ordered the break-ins and warrantless wiretaps of various domestic terrorist organizations, including members of the Weather Underground, and that individual agents were merely obeying orders and shouldn’t be punished for it.
Felt also stated that acting FBI Director L. Patrick Gray had also authorized the break-ins, but Gray denied this. Felt said on the CBS television program Face the Nation that he would probably be a "scapegoat" for the Bureau's work. "I think this is justified and I'd do it again tomorrow", he said on the program. While admitting the break-ins were "extralegal", he justified it as protecting the "greater good."
At the time, Felt said, “To not take action against these people and know of a bombing in advance would simply be to stick your fingers in your ears and protect your eardrums when the explosion went off and then start the investigation.”
Felt was subsequently indicted on charges of authorizing FBI break-ins at homes associated with suspected bombers from the 1960s radical group the Weather Underground. President Ronald Reagan pardoned Felt in 1981 while the case was on appeal - a move applauded by then former President Nixon.
For his actions against domestic terrorists, INCLUDING his extra-legal actions (warrantless break-ins and wiretaps) he remains an American hero.
For his major part in highlighting a minor crime (Watergate) and divulging his identity in May of 2005, at age 92, and not taking that secret to his grave, he’s probably at least part villain.
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