June 2, 2005
Deep Throat: Not a Jew
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President Nixon was wrong on Deep Throat's Jewishness.
A former FBI agent who outed himself as the "Deep Throat" of the Watergate scandal is not Jewish, though Nixon and his aides believed he was. Mark Felt, 91, revealed himself to Vanity Fair this week as the best-known anonymous source of the last century. Nixon, who had clashed with Felt over the FBI's refusal to use questionable means to track down leaks, came to suspect Felt -- J. Edgar Hoover's right-hand man -- of leaking information.
In a 1972 conversation recorded on the Nixon tapes, top aide H.R. Haldeman tells the president that Felt is Jewish. Nixon expresses shock that a Jew could have reached such a senior post, and speculates that Felt might be leaking information because he is Jewish. In fact, Felt, born in Idaho, is of Irish ancestry and claims no religious affiliation.
