W. Mark Felt

William Mark Felt, Sr. (born August 17, 1913) is a former agent and top official of the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). He was revealed in 2005 to be the Watergate scandal informant nicknamed "Deep Throat."

Deep Throat revealed

Vanity Fair magazine revealed Felt was Deep Throat on 31 May 2005 when it published an article (eventually appearing in the July issue of the magazine) on its website by John D. O'Connor, an attorney acting on Felt's behalf, in which Felt said, "I'm the guy they used to call Deep Throat." After the Vanity Fair story broke, Ben Bradlee, the key editor of the Washington Post during Watergate, confirmed that Felt was Deep Throat. According to the Vanity Fair article, Felt was persuaded to come out by his family, who wanted to capitalize on the book deals and other lucrative opportunities that Felt would inevitably be offered in order, at least in part, to pay off his grandchildren's education. They also did not want Bob Woodward to get all the attention by revealing Deep Throat's identity after Felt's death.{{ref|VanityFair}} Subsequent investigation by the Washington Post (see recent news below) revealed that Joan Felt is a local public contact for the highly controversial Adi da cult, and contributes a substantial portion of her income to that organization, which under Adidam's tithing guidelines{{ref|AdaDaTithingRules}} would receive a large portion of any profits from the story.{{ref|AdiDaCult}}

Related Topics:
Vanity Fair - 31 May - 2005 - Ben Bradlee - Adi da - Cult

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Public response varied widely. Felt's family called him an "American hero," suggesting that he leaked information for moral or patriotic reasons. G. Gordon Liddy, who was convicted of burglary in the Watergate scandal, said Felt should have gone to the grand jury rather than leaking information.{{ref|GGordonLiddy}} Some have contrasted Felt's media treatment with that of other whistleblowers, like Clinton scandal whistleblower Linda Tripp {{ref|FeltComparedToTripp}} or the informant who leaked the identity of CIA employee Valerie Plame to columnist Robert Novak (a Felt critic). Convicted Nixon Chief Counsel Charles Colson said Felt had violated "his oath to keep this nation's secrets,"{{ref|CharlesColston}} but a Los Angeles Times editorial pointed out this argument acts "as if there's no difference between nuclear strategy and rounding up hush money to silence your hired burglars."{{ref|LATimesEditorial}} Ralph de Toledano, who co-wrote Felt's book, said Mark Felt Jr. had approached him in 2004 to buy his share of the copyright. Toledano agreed to sell, but was never paid and attempted to rescind the deal, threatening legal action. A few days before the Vanity Fair article was released, he received a check.

Related Topics:
G. Gordon Liddy - Grand jury - Whistleblower - Clinton - Linda Tripp - Valerie Plame - Robert Novak - Charles Colson - Hush money - 2004

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:I had been gloriously and illegally deceived, and Deep Throat was, in characteristic style, back in business — which given his history of betrayal, was par for the course.{{ref|Toledano}}

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Speculation about Felt's motives at the time of the scandal has varied widely as well. Because Nixon passed over Felt as FBI director following Hoover's death, some media commentators have suggested that Felt possibly sought to sabotage Nixon's presidency. Others have suggested that Felt acted out of institutional loyalty to the FBI. Many FBI senior officials and agents believed that the Nixon White House was seeking to politicize the bureau, and use it to cover up its own lawbreaking.

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Publishers were immediately interested in signing Felt to a book deal after the revelation and subsequent confirmation. Less than a month after the Vanity Fair article broke PublicAffairs Books, whose CEO was a Washington Post reporter and editor during the Watergate era, announced that it had inked a deal with Felt. The new book was to include writings from his 1979 memoir and previously unpublished material to be released in the spring of 2006. Felt sold the movie rights to Universal Pictures for development by Playtone, a production company owned by actor Tom Hanks. There was some speculation that Hanks would take on the role of Felt himself. Press reports stated that together the deals were worth almost US $1 million, most of the money coming from the movie option.{{ref|DealWithHanks}}

Related Topics:
Publishers - Vanity Fair - CEO - 1979 - Memoir - 2006 - Universal Pictures - Playtone - Tom Hanks

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