We 're all learning this morning of the death , at age 95 , of W. Mark Felt , who as a senior Federal Bureau of Investigation official , served as the shadowy source known as `` Deep Throat '' to reporter Bob Woodward in his investigation of the Watergate scandal that led to President Nixon 's resignation .
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learn morning death age 95 w. mark felt senior federal bureau investigation official serve shadowy source know `` deep throat reporter bob woodward his investigation watergate scandal lead president nixon resignation
We 're all learning this morning of the <m> death </m> , at age 95 , of W. Mark Felt , who as a senior Federal Bureau of Investigation official , served as the shadowy source known as `` Deep Throat '' to reporter Bob Woodward in his investigation of the Watergate scandal that led to President Nixon 's resignation .
Mark 'Deep Throat ' Felt dead at 95
We 're all learning this morning of the <m> death </m> , at age 95 , of W. Mark Felt , who as a senior Federal Bureau of Investigation official , served as the shadowy source known as `` Deep Throat '' to reporter Bob Woodward in his investigation of the Watergate scandal that led to President Nixon 's resignation .
As Johanna Neuman writes in a Los Angeles Times piece:
A controversial figure who was later convicted of authorizing illegal activities in pursuit of members of the radical Weather Underground , Felt died of heart failure Thursday at his home in Santa Rosa , Calif. , his grandson Rob Jones said .
Felt was deputy associate director of the FBI in 1972 when he began supplying information to Bob Woodward , who with Carl Bernstein made up The Post 's investigative duo who doggedly pursued the story of the Watergate break-in and a conspiracy that led directly to President Richard M. Nixon , who ultimately resigned .
The reporters continued to keep Felt 's name a secret , but in 2005 , at the age of 91 , Felt told Vanity Fair magazine , `` I 'm the guy they used to call Deep Throat . ''
His disclosure ended a mystery that had intrigued Washington insiders and journalists for three decades and provided the grist for many hotly debated newspaper and magazine articles .
While Felt 's name was raised as a suspect on several occasions , he always managed to deflect attention , usually by saying that if had been Deep Throat he would have done a better job of exposing the wrongdoings at the White House .
His disclosure in a Vanity Fair article by his family 's lawyer , John D. O'Connor , provoked a national debate:
Was he a hero who should be lauded for sparing the country the strain of further high crimes and misdemeanors by the Nixon White House ?
Or was he a traitor who betrayed not only his president but his oath of office by disclosing grand jury information and the contents of FBI files ?
For the most part , reaction split along political lines .
`` There 's nothing heroic about breaking faith with your people , '' said commentator Patrick J. Buchanan , a former Nixon speechwriter .
Felt `` disgraced himself and dishonored everything an FBI agent should stand for . ''
But Richard Ben-Veniste , a key lawyer in the Watergate prosecution team , said Felt 's role showed that `` the importance of whistle-blowers should n't be underestimated , particularly when there are excesses by the executive branch of government -- which in this case went all the way to the executive office . ''