Even if you are sick of Deep Throat

Don't miss this ABC article on L. Patrick Gray. It is rewarding on three counts.

First, it sets the record straight about L. Patrick Gray. Deep Throat/Felt's virtue is heavily dependent on making Gray a Watergate conspirator. It is surprising, then, to read that Gray was not indicted for any Watergate-related matters. This undercuts the DT/F camp's argument that Felt was "forced" to go to Woodward because his boss was part of the Watergate conspiracy.

In fact, Gray's legal problems were exactly Felt's problems: illegal break-ins during the investigations of the Weather Underground. There was one key difference: Charges were dropped against Gray, but Felt was convicted.

Second, see how Bradlee and Bernstein got their facts wrong about Gray. They are desperate to defend their sources and methods and could not be bothered with little things like accuracy.

Third, Terry Lenzner makes an appearance. I did not realize that Bill Clinton's dirt collector was an investigator for the Watergate Committee.

A little offline digging suggests that Lenzner did not change his stripes. With Clinton, he worked to discredit those who might reveal embarrassing information about the Big He. With the Ervin Committee, he attacked those witnesses who undercut John Dean's politically useful but self-serving testimony.

Here is how William Safire described him in July 1973:

Terry Lenzner, born of wealth, captain of the Harvard football team, protégé of Ramsey Clark, and lawyer for the Reverend Philip Berrigan, is the essence of radical chic. He is a man on the make who strikes the pose of a stern guardian of civil liberties, but who has shown he has not the most rudimentary understanding of fairness and civility in human relationships.