A scandal many students know only through history books invaded the Journalism Building on Monday night during the Reilly Center’s “Inside Watergate” retrospective.
The panel discussion featured Barry Sussman, the Watergate editor for The Washington Post; Earl J. Silbert, the first Watergate federal prosecutor; and Max Holland, the author of “Leak: Why Mark Felt Became Deep Throat.” The trio provided insight into the scandal, Deep Throat and Richard Nixon.
“It started off as a break-in, and almost immediately and endlessly the scandal was peeled like an onion,” Sussman said.
Silbert said most people shallowly perceive Watergate as an investigation of the break-in of the Democratic National Committee headquarters, but it goes deeper.
“It turned into an investigation of a mammoth, extensive and incredible cover-up,” he said.
Holland said the scandal, as told in the book and movie “All the President’s Men,” is the story of two Washington Post reporters, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, and a whistleblower, Felt, who helped bring order to the chaos. But Holland revealed that there is more to this “fairy tale.”
Felt, who was Woodward’s prized source, the mysterious Deep Throat, was persistently called a truth-teller by the journalist, but Holland suggested that’s not the case. Holland said Felt often provided the Post with misleading information. According to Holland, Felt’s intention was to destroy his rivals and claim the FBI directorship.
Sussman said two main factors eventually led to Nixon’s resignation – Nixon’s tax fraud and public opinion. Nixon was paying income taxes at a rate equal to a janitor’s, which in turn enraged the public’s opinion, he said.
Congress decided it was riskier to keep Nixon in office than to impeach him, Sussman said.
 
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Contact Ferris McDaniel at [email protected]