Watergate left plenty of mysteries. Some have been solved over the years; others remain mysterious. How much did Nixon actually know? How did there come to be an 18-minute gap in the White House audio tapes? Who was "Deep Throat"?
Of course, the latter mystery has now been solved. Mark Felt, then 2nd in command at the FBI, has come forward and identified himself; Woodward and Bernstein, the reporters to whom he spoke, have confirmed his story.
And now, the recriminations. Various Nixon-administration officials, and others, are criticizing Felt. The argument seems to be, that a FBI official should have known better than to leak information about criminal activity to the press. He should have taken it to the grand jury, which could use that information to determine whether to file charges.
Or, more likely, where the administration could have quashed it.
Nixon and friends had already attempted to use the CIA to stop the FBI from pursuing this case. No competent investigator would believe Nixon wouldn't attempt to manipulate the Justice Department (as, eventually, he did...) to prevent the thorough investigation of any indictment the grand jury might deliver. Sending Mr. Felts' evidence to the Justice Department would have been about as effective as throwing it in the incinerator.
So, instead, he went to an organization Nixon couldn't control: the Washington Post.
Without Mr. Felts' actions, it is likely the Post would never have discovered much of the truth about Watergate. It is likely the date of June 17, 1972 would have been forgotten by anyone other than the officer who investigated the "third-rate burglary". It is likely Nixon would have gotten away with using common criminals to win election.
One has to wonder... if we had a "Deep Throat" in the current administration... and a paper bold enough to use his evidence, even when it seems politically incorrect to do so... might we have saved a few billion dollars and a few thousand lives in Iraq?
© D. Smith W9WI 2008
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