A true American hero has passed away today.
W. Mark Felt, most famously known as "Deep Throat" -- the source which lead to the downfall of the OTHER corrupt President, Richard Nixon -- died today at 12:45pm at a hospice care facility in Santa Rosa, California. He was 95 years old. No cause of death was released immediately to the press, but it was known that Felt had suffered from congestive heart failure in recent years. His death was reported in the Washington Post by Bob Woodward.
Felt was an agent of the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation, who retired in 1973 as the Bureau's Associate Director. After thirty years of denying his involvement with reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, Felt revealed himself on May 31, 2005 to be the Watergate scandal whistleblower called "Deep Throat."
Felt worked in several FBI field offices prior to his promotion to the Bureau's Washington headquarters. During the early investigation of the Watergate scandal (1972–74), Felt was the Bureau's Associate Director, the second-ranking post in the FBI. While Associate Director, Felt provided Washington Post reporter Woodward with critical leads on the story that eventually saw the resignation of President Richard M. Nixon in 1974. In 1980, Felt was convicted of the felony of violating the civil rights of people thought to be associated with members of the Weather Underground by ordering FBI agents to search their homes as part of an attempt to prevent bombings. He was ordered to pay a $5,000 fine but was pardoned by President Ronald Reagan during his appeal. In 2006, he published an update of his 1979 autobiography, The FBI Pyramid. His new book, written with John O'Connor, is titled A G-Man's Life.
Rest in Peace, brave man...you are a true beacon of democracy.
