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Summarized by Kent Larsen
New Book Says Bennett is Not Deep Throat
WASHINGTON, DC -- A new book by a former Nixon aid claims to have discovered
the identity of the elusive "Deep Throat," the still-unnamed source used by
Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein to expose the
Watergate conspiracy and end the Nixon presidency. Leonard Garment's new
book "In Search of Deep Throat" reviews the speculation about more than 20
individuals who may have had enough access to be Deep Throat.
One of the candidates explored in the book is current Senator and LDS Church
member Robert Bennett, R-Utah, who was head of the public relations firm
Robert R. Mullen and Co. at the time of the Watergate break-in. The firm was
a CIA front organization that Bennett needed to protect. Bennett also knew
reporter Bob Woodward, and "may have had an ethical distaste for White House
misdeeds," according to Garment.
But Garment eventually rejects Bennett as a possible Deep Throat mainly
because he is Mormon. Woodward and Bernstein portrayed Deep Throat in "All
the President's Men" as a chain smoker and Scotch drinker, essentially
eliminating Bennett.
Garment goes on in his book to conclude that Deep Throat is former Nixon
strategist and Ronald Reagan campaign chief John Sears. But Sears is
vehemently denying the speculation, offering to take a lie-detector test to
show that the speculation is not accurate. But Garment is sticking to his
claim.
In spite of Garment's analysis, critics are already saying that he is wrong.
Former Nixon chief of staff Alexander Haig says he thinks Sears couldn't be
Deep Throat because he wasn't in the White House for two years before the
break-ins.
The book may also not even relieve Bennett of further speculation. As
portrayed in "All the President's Men," Deep Throat's smoking and drinking
are not central to the role he played, so it is possible that Woodward and
Bernstein added those details to help conceal Deep Throat's identity.
Sources:
Who Was Deep Throat? Ex-Nixon Aide Tells All
Fox News 24Jul00 N2
By Sharon Kehnemui: Fox News
Who Wasn't Deep Throat?
Fox News 24Jul00 N2
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More about "In Search of Deep Throat : The Greatest Political Mystery of Our Time" at Amazon.com
More about "All the President's Men" at Amazon.com