Chase Culeman-Beckman

Jacob Bernstein spilled the beans at summer camp seventeen years ago. Out of the mouths of babes. When Chase Culeman-Beckman turned his secret into a high school history paper ten years later, he didn't even get an "A" on it.

From the Seattle Times:

Born well after Watergate, Culeman-Beckman was only 8 years old when, he says, Jacob Bernstein, a son of Watergate reporter Carl Bernstein, revealed Deep Throat's identity to him during playtime at summer day camp in 1988.

Except for telling his mom, Culeman-Beckman would keep the secret for nearly 10 years — until spilling the beans in a high-school research paper.

In a 1999 Hartford Courant article about Culeman-Beckman's disclosure (which was printed in The Seattle Times), Felt denied he was Deep Throat. Bernstein said neither he nor reporting partner Bob Woodward had ever told their wives, children or anyone else Deep Throat's identity.

..."They've been cute about it long enough," Culeman-Beckman said then. "I just think if it's fair of them to dethrone a president, for all intents and purposes, and not tell anyone their source, I don't see why it's not fair for a person like myself to come forward. ... Let the cards fall where they may. There's a chance this could be the answer to one of the greatest political mysteries of our time."

Curiously enough, it was.

The truth was told publically in 1999. A kid scooped the Post. While this summer camp tale is an interesting side story, what I find intriguing about it is Felt denied being the mysterious informant as recently as six years ago.

John O'Connor, lawyer and author of the Vanity Fair article, insists Felt's family convinced him that he was a hero and should come forward. O'Connor claims daughter Joan only used the money angle ("make enough money to pay some bills, like the debt I've run up for the children's education") to persuade him to go along with the unmasking, to achieve their desire to present Felt as a hero.

Deep Throat's family was in it for the money, pure and simple.

O'Connor and Vanity Fair timed the announcement to avoid Memorial Day and last week's filibuster uproar. They planned the unveiling for a time it would receive maximum media attention.

It seems quite obvious to me that the family is exploiting Mark Felt. When his mind was sharper, he refused to admit to the role he played in the Watergate drama.

Why? Because he knew what he did was wrong.

Rather than respect his wishes, the family pushed a confused, old man to agree to reveal his Deep Throat identity, something he actively avoided for decades.

It truly is pathetic.