Mark Felt pardoned in 1981 by Reagan....guess what for ?

[EVDebs]

"W. Mark Felt and Edward Miller (Reagan, 1981; clemency for authorizing FBI agents to break into Vietnam protestors' offices without warrants) "

Shortcut to: http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/pardons6.htm

Hmmm. Nixon would have loved that ! The irony of it all is just too much.

[NVMojo]

1. No shit!!!

[genius]

2. He had to maintain his work to be able to talk.

[autorank]

3. What a guy.

Having embarassed myself in another thread by saying Felt would do nothing w/out Hoover's approval, only to be reminded rather quickly that Hoover was dead at the time, I hesitate to comment.

However, this does really suck. What's up with the pardon, was Reagan's Justice Department going to prosecute?

[OldLeftieLawyer]

4. Republicans have a lovely tradition ..........

...... of pardoning their own when all asses are on the line. It's a simple trade: I'll pardon you, you'll shut up.

Ford pardoned Nixon (which still pisses me off - our "long national nightmare is over," my ass). Poppy Fuckface pardoned Cap Weinberger and a shitload of other Iran-Contra fucks.

This current Fuckface Squatter In The White House won't have to pardon anyone because his thugs are apparently so fireproof, they'll never be arrested, let alone indicted, tried, and convicted.

[unblock]

6. fwiw, ford admitted that he's going to hell because of that pardon

i think ford was probably the last of the decent republicans, and he pardoned nixon more for caving from the pressure or because he honestly thought he couldn't be an effective president until he could put watergate behind us all.

but i think it's pretty clear that he later recognized it as a major mistake.

[OldLeftieLawyer]

7. Thanks for that

Good. Good that he acknowledged that he screwed up. His pardon paved the way for bastards like what we have in the Oval Office right now, I honestly believe.

Ford was never equipped to be President. He was great in the House, but he was in 'way over his head as President.

Nelson Rockefeller would have been such a trip in that office. I really believe that, too.

Again, thanks. Isn't it tragic that the only decent character in that whole shebang feels remorse and shame?

[EVDebs]

13. Real Watergate investigators will now concentrate on Woodward

and his naval intelligence background (see Secret Agenda, by Jim Hougan--or for that matter, Adrian Havill's Deep Truth, or Colodny and Gittlin's Silent Coup). How were Mark Felt and Bob Woodward 'old friends' if Woodward was only at the WashPost for 9 months prior to his leaving naval intelligence ? How did he and Felt meet then ? Of course, as fellow intelligence officers !

Sen Robert F. Bennett, who was head of Mullen & Co., is deftly left off of everyone's radar about now--whew !--the CIA dodged another one.

""I have told Woodward everything I know about the Watergate case, except the Mullen Company's tie to the CIA."--Robert F. Bennett, testifying before House Special Committee on Intelligence, July 2, 1974. Robert Bennett was the head of Robert R. Mullen and Co., a CIA front headquartered in the very same building as the CIA's Domestic Operations Division...

So whatever happened to this Robert Bennett guy? Did he disappear, wind up in jail, or die creatively, like so many CIA operatives? Nope. Today, he's a U.S. senator, just like his father. According to Roll Call, Bob Bennett, R-Utah, is now the eighth richest of the 535 members of Congress, with a personal fortune exceeding $30 million." From:

http://www.metroactive.com/papers/sonoma/07.03.97/scoop-9727.html

Yes, Woodward's relationship along with the military's spy ring inside the White House

http://www.watergate.com/stories/obit.asp

show us that the military wanted Nixon out of office so bad, with the navy especially. Pages 246-247 of Blind Man's Bluff: The Untold Story of American Submarine Espionage, by Sherry Sontag and Christopher/Annette Drew, shows us why:

"Kissinger had made a glaring mistake during arms negotiations that threatened to leave the Soviets with a dangerous lead in submarine-based ballistic missiles. In secret talks away from his military advisers, he had agreed, offhandedly, not to ask for limits on the Soviet's massive efforts to build the Deltas, a new class of submarines that would far surpass the Yankees and carry ballistic missiles with ranges of 4,000 miles. Zumwalt was furious, convinced that Nixon had given away the barn in their zeal to get SALT completed before the year's elections." (1972)

And now, with another President in power abusing the military and prolonging another crazy war adventure, there is no chance that another group of whistle-blowers will emerge to protect the military's interests under the subterfuge of protecting the general public, as in the '70s Watergate episode.

Woodward is too busy these days writing hagiography for Bush & Co.

[Still_Loves_John]

5. hmm...

I'd hardly classify the weathermen as just "vietnam protestors." I don't totally excuse it, but that certainly changes the situation.

[EVDebs]

18. Their words not mine. Maybe, since 'offices' was used....

W. Mark Felt and Edward Miller (Reagan, 1981; clemency for authorizing FBI agents to break into Vietnam protestors' offices without warrants) "

Shortcut to: http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/pardons6.htm

[applegrove]

8. Please tell me that you cannot 'undo' a pardon? n/t

[Zen Democrat]

9. He was running black bag job and wiretaps on the Weather Underground

That's a different kettle of fish than just "Vietnam protestors" since the WU was blowing stuff up -- but Felt was Hoover's disciple to the bitter end.

[autorank]

10. Which is why I say Felt got phone calls from Hover on the other side

telling him to be deep throat! Makes sense doesn't it. We could ask that fraud John Edwards, the TV psychic who "talks to the dead."

[realFedUp]

11. This was the line David Gergen was pushing tonight

in two different interviews, Gergen said that
Felt had been pardoned by Reagan for authorizing
break ins...John O'Connor, the Vanity Fair author
said the Weathermen had blown up 50 plus buildings
(domestic terrorists wouldn't you say?) and
that Felt authorized reading Weathermen's mail
to find out future targets. The FBI was a different
animal in those days...can't say it's gotten
better. David Gergen was just mouthing the
Republican memo of the day...to rewrite Watergate
and discredit Felt.

[EVDebs]

14. Sorry, but please read post #13

Deep Throat's information could not have come from a single source. Read Secret Agenda pages 284-285 by Jim Hougan, DP couldn't have been a high FBI official, too much info 'wrong'. Also, Woodward was busy protecting his CIA source, Robert F. Bennett, who later testified before Congress saying as much !

Woodward's reporting skills today are spent running 'cover' stories for Bush's Iraq adventure.

[realFedUp]

16. Eugene...what does your post have to do with my response?

A little disconnect there. Now you are
saying that Felt wasn't Deep Throat?
Most people would say that there were other
sources on Watergate, but why deny that
Felt was the one tagged "Deep Throat".

And Gergen was spreading disinfo last
night on talk shows...the Weathermen were
domestic terrorists, whatever you thought
of their reasons and the FBI had a duty
to investigate them.

[EVDebs]

17. Pg 112 of All the President's Men contradicts a 'single source'

as does some of the other claims Woodward makes; most Watergate investigators know that a composite IS the only rational way to view Deep Throat.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x3759823#3764406

It's interesting to note that Woodward is now giving Bush 'cover' in not being an aggressive promoter of the PNAC war effort with Iraq, despite the Downing Street Memo.

(Sen. R-UT) Robert F. Bennett has a better claim than most to be Deep Throat-- even Nixon said that (Citizen Hughes by Michael Drosnin p.484) ! see

""I have told Woodward everything I know about the Watergate case, except the Mullen Company's tie to the CIA."--Robert F. Bennett, testifying before House Special Committee on Intelligence, July 2, 1974."

www.metroactive.com/papers/sonoma/07.03.97/scoop-9727.html

Woodward's naval intelligence background, useful to the CIA and military in getting Nixon removed from office, also required Alexander Butterfield, a CIA officer in Australia prior to WH duties, to finish the job. Talk about an inside job !

The same request for the media to investigate Woodward's background is made at
http://www.watergate.com/stories/obit.asp

Adm Zumwalt was furious at Nixon for negotiating away the Delta subs to the Soviets, with a 4000 mile ballistic missile range (see Blind Man's Bluff by Sontag and Drew); furthermore, POW/MIAs were in process of being 'left behind' in the negotiations for peace in Vietnam. The military wanted Nixon OUT. The FBI/CIA were about to lose domestic intell ops to the White House in the (Tom) Huston Plan. They wanted Nixon out too.

Odd that with FEMA and Ollie North in 1979 we end up with the martial law ability that the Huston Plan was to bring about in the early 70s with Nixon anyway.

[Wilms]

12. kick n/t

[Toots]

15. Well Nixon was pardoned as well. Hell half of the Bush* Cabal was Pardoned

Commit a crime doesn't matter we will Pardon you and put you in a place of huge importance. Abrams, Poindexter, Negroponte, The real question is which ones have not been convicted of felonies.

[rfkrfk]

19. MF, what does he want?

going public now.

Why now?