I had a very long discussion with my father last night, a retired Law Enforcement Officer, about this whole Brouhaha over Mark Felt. I wish I could have transcibed the whole thing for folks here and for posterity - it was that informative. He was on the Job when Watergate broke as a story and had known G Gordon Liddy quite well when he was a Prosecuter. His opinion of Liddy swings back and forth - I wish he'd write down all his Liddy stories someday. In many ways, I expected my dad's perspective to on Felt to be much harsher than it actually was.

He explained to me that under the law at the time, Felt could have been indicted on a variety of serious charges for what he did, none of which would have ever held up in the end. true, he did get convicted of some part in the Nixon nonsense, but so did lots of other people. He also stated that Felt's options, while limited were not so limited as to preclude going to the House Subcommittee. He further explained some of the seriously nasty things that befell others within The FBI and the Administration who dared try and put the brakes on what was going on.

What a freaking mess! I was 8 when the Watergate Break-in happened, so some if this was quite a revelation. I'd suggest folkd uder the age of 50 do some heavy reading before leaping to any conclusions - and.. talk to your parents as I did. There's a lot to learn.

My dad began the conversation telling me that Felt was technically guilty of Treason and ended it by saying Felt remains the one and only figure who clearly never intended to profit from his wrongdoing. I got the imprression that My dad admires him for that despite disagreeing with going outside of Law Enforcement. It's funny, my Dad even faults Serpico for that. He's a big believer in going up the chain of command until you find somebody whose honest enough to help. What an optimist!

Dad and I both agree that the terms of Felt's agreement were so ironclad as to make it evident he wished to take this to his grave. There are now serious allegations that Felt's daughter, who is in very serious debt, is exerting undue influence over an elderly and infirm man. She has moved into his home and controls his finances. Her profit motive is very distrubing.


Whatever people may feel about what Mark Felt did back then, it's clear that absent the daughter's pushing, he would have died with his secret. I find that sad.