Dean wrong about Deep Throat’s obit

It started with a botched break-in at a famous hotel in 1972 and continues in today’s… It started with a botched break-in at a famous hotel in 1972 and continues in today’s headlines.

Watergate, the scandal that led to President Nixon’s resignation, has left one question unanswered: Who is Deep Throat, the high-ranking, anonymous source whose tips fueled the investigation?

In a Feb. 6 column for the L.A. Times, John Dean, former White House Counsel to Nixon, wrote that Throat was dying and that his identity would soon be revealed in an obituary.

Dean claimed that he had gotten this information from The Washington Posts’s Ben Bradlee, one of the four people who know Deep Throat’s identity. News of this obituary has been widely reported, even though it seems nobody bothered to confirm it with Bradlee.

So being slightly obsessive, I called Bradlee, who was quick to amend Dean’s claims. “I helped edit a story that reveals his identity,” he said, telling me that he knew of no obituary.

Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, the reporters who uncovered Watergate, have said that they’ll reveal Throat’s identity after he dies, and have even made provisions for the unlikely event that they die before he does.

Post columnist Howard Kurtz reported that Leonard Downie, the Post’s current executive editor, told him that Woodward hadn’t told him about Throat being ill. When I called, Downie declined to comment.

As for Dean’s claims that Throat is sick, Bradlee said, “He’s getting old, and so am I,” but he added that this aging certainly didn’t warrant the urgency that Dean gave it in his column.

Dean has written two books on Throat’s possible identity, naming two different people. He doesn’t, in Bradlee’s eyes, have a great history of getting details about Throat right.

“[Dean’s] track record in the field is lousy,” Bradlee said.

After 30 years, Watergate could have become yet another chapter in our American history textbooks, except for one element: the mystery surrounding Deep Throat, whose “deep background” information helped reporters expose the intricate corruptions of the Nixon administration. “Deep Throat” has entered the public’s lexicon and has become a common term for any high-ranking anonymous source. Throat was even used as a character on the first season of “The X-Files.”

Only four people know the identity of Deep Throat, so designated from a pornographic movie of the same name. They are: Bradlee; both components of Woodstein, the amalgamated term for reporters Woodward and Bernstein’s co-byline; and the man himself, whoever he might be.

Of course, not knowing doesn’t stop many from speculating. Deep Throat first appeared as a heavy-smoking, scotch-drinking shadow in the reporters’ book, “All the President’s Men,” which chronicled their Watergate coverage. The book became a bestseller in 1974 and was adapted into an Oscar-winning movie starring Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman.

This has been a simmering political mystery that Dean, a key Watergate figure, brought to full boil again

Despite Bradlee’s discouragements, bets are already being placed on who exactly leaked information from the Nixon White House. Lists of candidates, from current Chief Justice William Rehnquist to former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, are available online, and speculation has even included Pope John Paul II, largely because of his current health problems.

Most people seem to agree on a few criteria — whoever Throat was, he had to have been well connected and with a high-ranking position in the administration or the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Throat also became famous for directing Woodward to “follow the money,” that is, trace funds for the break-in and other “dirty tricks” the Nixon administration used to derail its Democratic opponents.

This quote made Throat iconic. But his effect goes beyond a few simple words.

“The combined impact of Vietnam and Watergate makes people skeptical and cynical about the government and president,” said Rob Ruck, a Pitt history professor.

Ruck said he won’t be among those excited to have Throat’s identity revealed. “It’ll be kind of deflating to know who it is.”

Matt Wein contributed to this column. E-mail your conspiracy theories to sbergman@pittnews.com.