The day before Senate Watergate Committee minority counsel Fred Thompson made the inquiry that launched him into the national spotlight -- asking an aide to President Nixon whether there was a White House taping system -- he telephoned Nixon's lawyer.Thompson tipped off the White House that the committee knew about the taping system and would be making the information public. In his all-but-forgotten Watergate memoir, "At That Point in Time," Thompson said he acted with "no authority" in divulging the committee's knowledge of the tapes, which provided the evidence that led to Nixon's resignation. It was one of many Thompson leaks to the Nixon team, according to a former investigator for Democrats on the committee, Scott Armstrong , who remains upset at Thompson's actions.
"Thompson was a mole for the White House," Armstrong said in an interview. "Fred was working hammer and tong to defeat the investigation of finding out what happened to authorize Watergate and find out what the role of the president was."
Asked about the matter this week, Thompson -- who is preparing to run for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination -- responded via e-mail without addressing the specific charge of being a Nixon mole: "I'm glad all of this has finally caused someone to read my Watergate book, even though it's taken them over thirty years."
Thompson has been able to define his public persona pretty well to this point, but now that he's reached the point where he's a serious candidate, he can expect serious scrutiny.
Comments (1)
This is pretty shocking and the naivete of Thompson, who in his 1975 memoir, wrote that he believed "there would be nothing incriminating" about Nixon on the tapes
Where was he for the first 32 years of his life? The Republican Party has to nominate someone don't they? Are there any Eliot Richardsons left in the GOP or are they nearly all Howard Hunt wannabes?
1. Posted by Steve Crickmore | July 5, 2007 2:51 PM
Posted on July 5, 2007 14:51