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Senators George McGovern and Mike Gravel Reflect on How Deep
Throat Helped Bring Down the Nixon Presidency by Exposing
the Watergate Scandal
Jennifer Dohrn: I Was The Target Of Illegal FBI Break-Ins
Ordered by Mark Felt aka "Deep Throat"
Investigative Journalist David Wise on the Significance of
Watergate, Anonymous Sources and the Tug-of-War Between Civil
Liberties and National Security
Senators George McGovern and Mike Gravel Reflect
on How Deep Throat Helped Bring Down the Nixon Presidency
by Exposing the Watergate Scandal
We look back at President Nixon's political dirty tricks
and intelligence-gathering operations that had helped Nixon
win re-election over McGovern in 1972. One of the great mysteries
of American politics appears to have been solved: the identity
of Deep Throat -- the secret source that helped the Washington
Post unravel the Watergate scandal. [includes transcript]
The June 1972 break-in at the Democrats' national headquarters
in the Watergate office building eventually forced President
Nixon to resign in order to avoid impeachment. In addition
more than 30 government and Republican campaign officials
were convicted of charges including perjury, burglary, wiretapping
and obstruction of justice.
For over 30 years the Washington Post reporters who broke
the story -- Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein -- refused to
identify their source. They had vowed they would keep it secret
until the source's death. ??
But on Tuesday the secret came out -- not in the pages of
the Washington Post but the monthly magazine Vanity Fair.
Deep Throat was Mark Felt -- the number two man in J. Edgar
Hoover's FBI.
He is 91 years old and living in California. His family had
asked an attorney by the name of John D. O'Connor to share
his story that appeared in Vanity Fair.
In today's Washington Post, Woodward reveals that he first
met Felt in 1970, by chance, at the White House. At the time,
the 27-year-old Woodward was still serving in the Navy and
had yet decided to pursue a career in journalism. Felt, he
said, became a friend and a mentor. He also became Woodward's
most important source for his biggest story ever.
Today we will look at the impact of Watergate 30 years later
as well as the man who turned out to be Deep Throat. Later
in the program we will examine Mark Felt's connection to the
FBI's counter intelligence campaign known as COINTELPRO and
the hunt for the Weather Undergound.
But first we will look at the break-in of the Watergate hotel
and how Mark Felt became Deep Throat.
Most Americans only know Deep Throat from the 1976 Oscar-winning
movie, All the President's Men starring Robert Redford as
Bob Woodward and Dustin Hoffman as Carl Bernstein. In the
film, Deep Throat is portrayed by Hal Holbrook. This is a
pivotal scene from the movie where Deep Throat is helping
Woodward understand that the Watergate scandal extends all
the way into the Oval Office. He also tells Woodward that
Nixon's goal was to sabotage viable Democratic candidates.
We are joined now by former Senator George McGovern. He ran
against Richard Nixon for president in 1972. He joins us on
the phone from his home in South Dakota. We are also joined
by former Senator Mike Gravel of Alaska. He was also serving
in the Senate at the time of the Watergate break-in. He joins
us in our Washington studio.
- Sen. George McGovern, served as a Democratic Senator
from South Dakota from 1963 to 1981. In 1972 he ran for
president on the Democatic ticket ahead against Richard
Nixon.
- Sen. Mike Gravel, represented Alaska in the U.S. Senate
from 1969-1981.
Jennifer Dohrn: I Was The Target Of Illegal FBI
Break-Ins Ordered by Mark Felt aka "Deep Throat"
Mark Felt -- who was exposed this week as Deep Throat --
was one of only two FBI officials ever to be convicted for
ordering COINTELPRO operations. In 1980 he was convicted for
ordering FBI agents to break into the home of Dohrn and other
associates of the Weather Underground. He was later pardoned
by President Reagan. Jennifer Dohrn discusses the FBI surveillance,
break-ins and a secret FBI proposal to kidnap her infant.
Democracy Now! co-host Juan Gonzalez also reveals that as
a leader of the Young Lords that he, too, was also a target
of a similar FBI campaign. [includes rush
transcript - partial]
On Tuesday the family of Mark Felt publicly said they hoped
history would view him as hero for being Deep Throat.
But not everyone is praising Felt. A group of former Nixon
aides are criticizing him for betraying the Nixon administration.
Former Nixon advisor Pat Buchanan says Felt was "corrupt"
for revealing White House secrets.
G. Gordon Liddy also criticized Felt. Liddy organized the
break-in of the Democratic National Campaign headquarters
in the Watergate complex. Liddy said:
"He's certainly not a hero because a law enforcement
official who obtains knowledge of a commission of a crime,
has the evidence of it and who did it and so forth, is ethically
obliged to go to a grand jury, bring his evidence and so forth,
so an indictment can be obtained and justice can be done.
He didn't do that. Instead, he selectively leaked it to a
single news source."
That was G.Gordon Liddy. Liddy himself was convicted conspiracy,
burglary, and illegal wiretapping in connection to Watergate.
He served four and a half years in prison before having his
20 year sentence commuted by President Jimmy Carter.
While Felt's name will forever now be linked to helping expose
the Watergate scandal, he is also connected to another dark
moment in U.S. history -- the FBI's counter intelligence program
known as COINTELPRO.
Under the leadership of J. Edgar Hoover, the FBI carried
out an extensive campaign of surveillance and neutralization
of political groups including the Black Panthers, American
Indian Movement, the Young Lords, and Vietnam Veterans Against
the War.
In 1980, Mark Felt -- along with Edward Miller -- became
the highest ranking FBI officials to be convicted of criminal
charges since Hoover became head of the agency in 1924.
The two officials were convicted by a jury of conspiring
to violate the constitutional rights of American citizens
for ordering FBI agents to secretly break into the homes of
friends and relatives of the militant anti-war group The Weather
Underground.
In September 1980, government prosecutors said in court that
Felt's actions were a "violation of the rights of all
people of this country, violations that cannot and will not
be tolerated as long as we have a Bill of Rights."
Felt and Miller were later pardoned by President Ronald Reagan
who credited them for bringing a "end to the terrorism
that was threatening our nation." In 1983 a federal judge
ordered that Felt and Millers' criminal record be swept clean.
Felt and Miller were the only FBI officials convicted in connection
to COINTELPRO.
Felt never denied the the break-ins but argues they were
done in the name of national security. He claimed that the
Weather Underground had extensive ties to foreign powers and
that break-ins were part of a foreign intelligence investigation.
We are joined now in our studio by Jennifer Dohrn who was
the target of FBI break-ins ordered by Felt. Her sister, Bernadine
Dorhn, was a a founder of the Weather Underground and was
on the run from the federal government during the 1970s. Government
documents show that FBI agents repeatedly broke into Jennifer's
home. In 1978 she filed a civil suit against Felt and Miller.
The suit was settled in 1983 out-of-court.
- Jennifer Dohrn, sister of Weather Underground member
Bernadine Dohrn. Jennifer sued Mark Felt after it was revealed
that he ordered FBI agents to secretly break-in to her home
as well as other associates of the Weather Underground.
Investigative Journalist David Wise on the Significance
of Watergate, Anonymous Sources and the Tug-of-War Between
Civil Liberties and National Security
In 1981 Wise criticized President Reagan's pardon of Mark
Felt for ordering FBI agents to conduct secret break-ins.
Wise said the pardon sent a "clear message to the intelligence
agencies: The President of the United States approves of Government
burglaries."
We are joined now by investigative journalist David Wise.
He is the coauthor of The Invisible Government, a number one
bestseller about the CIA. He is also the author of Nightmover,
Molehunt, The Spy Who Got Away, The American Police State,
and The Politics of Lying.
In 1981 he wrote a column in the New York Times criticizing
President Reagan for pardoning Mark Felt – the man who
we now know was Deep Throat.
Wise began his column by writing: “President Reagan's
pardon of two high Federal Bureau of Investigation officials
who were convicted of authorizing illegal break-ins sends
a clear message to the intelligence agencies: The President
of the United States approves of Government burglaries.
“One can visualize the intelligence operators"
breaking out the champagne at F.B.I. headquarters in the J.
Edgar Hoover Building and across the river at the Central
Intelligence Agency, in Langley, Va. ?“The meaning of
Mr. Reagan's action was immediately grasped by W. Mark Felt,
one of the pardoned F.B.I. officials: "This is going
to be the biggest shot in the arm for the intelligence community
for a long time.” ?We are joined now by David Wise in
our Washington studio.
- David Wise, the coauthor of The Invisible Government,
a number one bestseller about the CIA. He is also the author
of Nightmover, Molehunt, The Spy Who Got Away, The American
Police State, and The Politics of Lying. David is also the
former chief of the Washington bureau of the New York Herald
Tribune
For a copy of today’s program, call 1 (800) 881 2359.
Our website is www.democracynow.org.
Our email address is mail@democracynow.org.
Democracy Now! is produced by Mike Burke, Sharif Abdel Kouddous,
Ana Nogueira, Elizabeth Press, Jeremy Scahill and Parvez Sharma.
Mike Di Filippo is our engineer.
Thanks also to Uri Galed, Angela Alston, Orlando Richards,
Simba Russeau, Johnny Sender, Rich Kim, Joe Murgio, John Randolph,
Chris Zucker, Karen Ranucci, Denis Moynihan, Eric Rweyemamu,
Jenny Filipazzo and Isis Phillips.
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