Woodward questions Thompson role in Watergate.
Woodward questions Thompson role in Watergate.
Former senator Fred Thompson was the Senate Watergate Committee’s chief minority counsel in 1973 and 1974, and is often credited with asking a question during the Watergate hearings “that led to the disclosure of the fact that President Nixon had installed recording devices in the Oval Office.” But in an online chat yesterday, Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward disputed this history:
The veteran journalist, whose early reporting was instrumental in uncovering the scandal, said that when Thompson asked the question, he already “knew the answer — because three days before the public testimony, lawyers and investigators for the committee got Butterfield to reveal the existance of the secret tape-recording system. Though Thompson seems to get public credit for asking this critical question, it was the work of others on the committee staff who dug out Butterfield’s revelation in a lengthy interview on a hot Friday afternoon on July 13, 1973.”
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Even if he knew the answer, he had the guts to say it and pull it out in the open. He didn’t hide the fact or sweep it under a rug, he confronted it.
Needs to count for something with all of the back room deals we are all dealing with now.
June 19th, 2007 at 1:18 amNeeds to count for something with all of the back room deals we are all dealing with now.
Comment by Tundra
Yeah, but I still don’t want him for the next POTUS.
June 19th, 2007 at 1:24 amYeah, but I still don’t want him for the next POTUS.
Comment by The Republic of Stupidity — June 19, 2007 @ 1:24 am
Not my ideal candidate either, The post sort of gives the impression that he lied or claimed credit for figuring it out. Everything I have read so far is he is credited with asking a crucial question at the time. I would sort of hope he knew and wasn’t just spitballing thoughts during that investigation.
June 19th, 2007 at 1:28 amIt’s a long time ago, Tundra. It’s hard to know what was going thru Thompson’s head at that point. Shit, HE might not remember it clearly by now, or have convinced himself what he does remember is true.
1974? Fred must have been pretty young back then. Probably had a full head of hair. I’m not crazy about ANY of the candidates I’m looking at. I’m toally w/ ya on voting out all the incumbents, period, w/ a meaningful exception or 2.
June 19th, 2007 at 1:44 amWhat a difference 30 years makes. During the Watergate scandal, it was Republican staff attorney Fred Thompson who famously asked “are you aware of the installation of any listening devices in the Oval Office of the President?” Now, likely GOP presidential candidate Fred Thompson is a charter member of the Scooter Libby Legal Defense Trust.
For the sad story of another Republican who no longer believes in “law and order,” see:
June 19th, 2007 at 1:49 am“Fred Thompson: Watergate Legend Turned Plamegate Villain.”
Madsen made the point that those being blackmailed tend to exhibit dramatic changes in financial situation and/or tremendous changes in personality structure. His three examples included McCain and Thompson, both of whom seem compromised and under the heavy weight of the GOP thumb!!
June 19th, 2007 at 1:56 amThe first rule of questioning if you are an attorney is never ask a question unless you already know the answer. This is a perfect example of Fred Thompson doing that… the fact that the media (like the Washington Post) has given full credit to Thompson for asking this question without knowing the back story is not Thompson’s fault… and while some will attempt to attack Fred for his support of Scooter Libby… they too apparently know nothing of the back story. Scooter will be pardoned… Fred will be President… MARK IT!
June 19th, 2007 at 2:28 amIf you had bothered to watch his appearance on Leno the other night you would have noticed that Thompson himself gave the credit to the staff and didn’t take it himself.
http://conservativesuperiority.com
June 19th, 2007 at 2:30 amCredit, Brandon?
June 19th, 2007 at 2:33 amScooter will be pardoned… Fred will be President… MARK IT!
Comment by FredStates.com — June 19, 2007 @ 2:28 am
Hey that’s my gag!!!
I’m the only Shakespearean fool ’round he-ah!!!
Anyway you got it all wrong, it should be like this:
Mark it, nuncle.
Scooter will be pardoned…
June 19th, 2007 at 2:35 amFred will be President…
Liberals are retarded…
Conservatives irrelevant.
Hmm, Primus, I would switch liberals and conservatives in your rhyme.
June 19th, 2007 at 2:38 amFred will be President…
Perhaps in his next film role.
Fred’s K-street past will be front and center, courtesy of Mad Dog McCain. McCain will ideologically tie Fred to Abramoff, whether an actual connection exists or not. And Fred will be subjected to a barrage of out of context clips from his prodigious film and TV past, making any position he takes appear scripted and contrived.
June 19th, 2007 at 2:58 amOh yah… the “K” street caper… that’s really going to do him in… 65 “K” a year… but anybody who has any experience in Beltway Politics knows that if you’re only getting $65 thousand bucks a year for lobbying you aint doing much lobbying… again… the back story…
MARK IT!
I got that from The Big Labowski… I didn’t even know there was Shakespeare connection… that’s cool… only mine is really…
“Mark It Dude!”
June 19th, 2007 at 3:11 amThey will eat their own!! McCain will also go down the Abramoff drain for his protection of the Dept of the Interior’s numerous crimes.
I doubt Thompson will opt to run!!
June 19th, 2007 at 3:27 amThompson is a fraud, but most GOPers are that way. They like to take credit for things and showboat baloney too.
June 19th, 2007 at 4:04 amhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57GOsJNjRkY
mike Gravel explains his Rock video.
DONATE NOW! email friends, call congress. Do somthing besides sit and bitch about it.
gravel08.us
June 19th, 2007 at 4:27 amThis story about Thompson is interesting, but I think an even more important revelation from Woodward’s online chat is this:
Although Woodward says that to answer the WMD question would have been a “monumental task,” he said last November that he already had information that the WMD story was “shaky.”
Which is it, Bob? They can’t both be true.
June 19th, 2007 at 4:31 amGiven Thompson’s lacksadaisical complicity in the 109th Congress, his actions during Watergate must be seen as being the Man Charged with Removing the Cork from the Elephant’s Ass.
• Quite an honor, indeed.
June 19th, 2007 at 4:32 amOff topic, but I’ve been going through the 9/11 Commission Report.
This is fascinating:
The Official Story
Between 9:34 and 9:30, the Cleveland controller observed United 93 climbing to 40,700 feet and immediately moved several aircraft out its way.
*******
At 9:32, a hijacker, probably Jarrah, made or attempted to make the following announcement to the passengers of Flight 93: “Ladies and Gentlemen: Here the captain, please sit down keep remaining sitting. We have a bomb on board. So, sit.†the flight data recorder (also recovered) indicates that Jarrah then instructed the plane’s autopilot to turn the aircraft around and head east.
The cockpit voice recorder data indicate that a woman, most likely a flight attendant, was being held captive in the cockpit. She struggled with one of the hijackers who killed or otherwise silenced her.
Shortly thereafter, the passengers and flight crew began a series of calls from GTE airphones and cellular phones. These calls between family, friends, and colleagues took place until the end of the flight and provided those on the ground with firsthand accounts. They enabled the passengers to gain critical information, including the news that two aircraft had slammed into the World Trade Center.
*****
Note: The technology to make cell phone calls possible from 40,000′ did not exist in commercial aircraft in 2001.
(I wonder if this will be my last post)
June 19th, 2007 at 4:50 amOh no!
This might undercut Thompson’s standing amongst his Republican base that were also happy with Nixon’s impeachment and might care about the precise sequence of a q & a session 30 years ago.
Apart from that it would appear to be a waste of space.
Patriot Act still not overturned ?
June 19th, 2007 at 4:57 amHaven’t seen a single story on that front since… well… forever.
He’d make a fine President.
I just hope he makes Jack McCoy Vice President.
Come to think of it…Jack has been Assistant DA for about twenty years without a promotion. He’s due big time.
June 19th, 2007 at 5:29 am“Fred Thompson is a charter member of the Scooter Libby Legal Defense Trust.”
He’s a scumbag.
June 19th, 2007 at 6:12 am“Note: The technology to make cell phone calls possible from 40,000′ did not exist in commercial aircraft in 2001.” –Briseadh na Faire
No problem, because such messages can be propagated to a couple of AWACS in the area, and those electronic spy planes can then boost the signal and deliver the poignant pathos.
• According to Ted, Barbara Olson called him on a SEAT phone but specified that she had no credit cards. You can choose from the following list:
1. Rightwing media personality B. Olson was on the Pentagon flight.
2. Ted Olson said she was, but she wasn’t.
3. B. Olson had no credit cards. This is apparently because she decided to fly nude on that fateful day.
4. Ted flew his wife into the side of the Pentagon to test the new walls. Mission Accomplished.
I don’t actually know which, but no other calls came off that Pentagon flight, for some unknown reason.
One also has to wonder why someone attacking the Pentagon wouldn’t strike the center, where the brass are well-known to have their offices, rather than flying circuitously around in order to hit the newly reinforced section where the accountants sit.
But as far as being arrested for speech, they would sure like to have that power, but it’s coming unraveled as we speak.
June 19th, 2007 at 6:47 amYou appear to be impersonating the person who demands that I cite sources or be declared a liar for such common knowledge subjects as whether Iraqis are involved in Iraqi oil smuggling, let alone conspiracy theories
Man, is she going to be pissed when she finds out you’ve permanently written off her credibility by making her look like a massive hypocrite like this.
June 19th, 2007 at 6:57 amWoodward is such a tool.
I’m sure grunts in every organization are never given all of the credit they deserve… That role always falls to the “leaders”.
Its not like the question was just randomly pulled from the air by Thompson or any other investigator… It doesn’t matter who came up with the question, Thompson made he decision to ask it.
Just like it doesn’t matter who came up with the justification to invade Iraq… The president made the decision invade it.
Whatever happened to “The Buck Stops Here.”? Seems to have gone the way of “The Only Thing We Have to Fear… Is Fear Itself.”
June 19th, 2007 at 7:26 amand will Thompson or any of his Libby-liberating friends ask the hard questions about the missing emails of Karl Rove on the RNC servers?
Lets see some of this same “courage” in the search for truth in TODAY’s whitehouse. Nixon is dead and gone — we have different crooks to catch now.
June 19th, 2007 at 8:50 amWell, I guess we can ask Hillary why she represented the Black Panthers in 1970 and how she made $100,000 in one day in the cattle futures market.
Don’t go there TP – you’ll get burned. Hillary will be your nominee and we know she is full of baggage. I can’t wait til she has to answer questions about her husband’s ties to Dubai.
June 19th, 2007 at 9:07 amWell, I guess we can ask Hillary why she represented the Black Panthers in 1970
Comment by TP Hate Machine
Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzt. Nice try, liar.
http://tinyurl.com/d8q4e
June 19th, 2007 at 9:40 am#28 – answer the questions about Clinton’s ties to Dubai? Travelgate? Why are they invested in big oil?
The smear machine cuts both ways. Unlike the wimpy Democrats are scared of Fox News, the GOP gets vetted. Democrats do not and that’s why you lose elections. See John Kerry and his disgraceful testimony before Congress in 1971 where he slandered his fellow troops. Had the MSM and the hateful left done their homework, maybe you would have a different President today.
June 19th, 2007 at 10:36 amI’d like to see him as the Republican nominee. He strikes me as someone who can muster enough integrity to not let the ship sink, but just beholden enough to not sail away with it either.
my current rankings:
June 19th, 2007 at 10:36 am(1) Joe Biden
(2) Fred Thompson
(3) Barack Obama
(4) Hillary Clinton
…
(4287) David Hasselhoff
(4288) Rudy Guliani
(4289) Mike Tyson
(4290) Newt Gingrich
(4291) The creepy bicycle kid from Better Off Dead
(4292) Mitt Romney
Daily Fred Thompson Fact
The most scientifically accepted unified field theory is Fred Thompson
June 19th, 2007 at 10:39 am#29 ~ The Dems don’t want to have a debate on FOX for the same reason they don’t want to have a debate in China — no Americans would be watching.
June 19th, 2007 at 10:41 amDaily Fred Thompson Fact
Fred Thompson easily caught the Road Runner on his first try.
June 19th, 2007 at 10:41 am#32 – The Dems are anti-free press. PERIOD. AND they are scared to death to be challenged on any of their empty ideas on health care, the WOT, or their radical views on social policy.
AND if Bush and the GOP boycotted news organizations they deemed unfair to them, there be no press. Please stop drinking the kool-aid and realize that the boycott is bad for your party. Democrats can either answer the tough questions NOW or in Sept 2008. Stop being a pussy.
June 19th, 2007 at 10:44 am“the GOP gets vetted.”
i liked it when they vetted bernie kerik.
June 19th, 2007 at 10:44 am#34 ~ Good humor there. Was that intentional?
June 19th, 2007 at 10:45 am“AND if Bush and the GOP boycotted news organizations they deemed unfair to them, there be no press.”
or they could just keep paying people like they did with armstrong williams and several others.
June 19th, 2007 at 10:47 am#35 – great example of when someone doesn’t get vetted. Thanks for proving my point.
#34 – please explain to me why Dems boycotting Fox News is good for them? I would hate to the laugh last in Nov 2008 when a Republican wins the White House with Bush’s approval at 20%. AND it very well could happen if your party doesn’t get thicker skin.
June 19th, 2007 at 10:47 am#37 – please STFU! A couple reporters that like Bush VRS. Dan Rather, Helen Thomas, Christie Amanwhore, Wolf Blitzer, Bob Scheiffer, Oberman, Couric, Jennings, Brian Williams – the list is endless.
Please continue to allow Democrats to dodge the tough questions. It will help the GOP.
June 19th, 2007 at 10:49 amso you’re saying it’s ok that the repubs are scared of Dan Rather?
June 19th, 2007 at 10:51 amand helen thomas?
June 19th, 2007 at 10:55 am#38 ~ Because lending FOX any credibility is not a debt that is repaid with honest coverage.
June 19th, 2007 at 11:00 amWhoever this hateful troll is they should be ignored.
Christie Amanwhore?! Didn’t your mother teach you any manners?
June 19th, 2007 at 11:00 am“Christie Amanwhore?! Didn’t your mother teach you any manners?
Comment by margaret — June 19, 2007″
clearly the current taliban resurgence is due to her reporting, moreso than the bush administration’s disinterest in afghanistan.
June 19th, 2007 at 11:07 am#40 and 41 – the last time I checked, President Bush debated Sen. Kerry before CBS schill, Bob Schieffer, at the peak of the memo scandal in 2004. AND as for ultra-terrorist sympathizer Helen Thomas, the press cried fascism when she was moved to the back row even after she openly called Condi Rice a liar!!!!
June 19th, 2007 at 11:11 am#42 – Under those rules, CBS should be banned from all GOP debates.
June 19th, 2007 at 11:11 ampgw – are you saying that if no one reports it then it’s not happening? Curse those terrorist reporters! It’s all their fault!
I wonder what Ms. Amanpour thinks of Fred Thompson. If he was prez (shudder) chances are that she’d have a lot to cover in the M.E.!
June 19th, 2007 at 11:16 am“On March 21, 2006, Thomas was called upon directly by President Bush for the first time in three years.”
that’s toughness from the decider! what happened 3 years before March ‘06?
June 19th, 2007 at 11:25 amanother interesting fact: helen thomas was 85 years old in March ‘06.
June 19th, 2007 at 11:33 am#46 ~ It’s pretty hard to ban a network from their own debate. (I think the word you’re looking for is boycott.)
June 19th, 2007 at 12:08 pmWhat’s the rumor about Fred having a deep, dark secret that folks in Hollywood know, but not in DC. Anybody heard about it? Anybody know what it might be?
June 19th, 2007 at 1:25 pm“Watergate Plus 30″ is being rerun on PBS. They interview Fred Thompson in 2003 as part of the documentary. He stated that he thought Watergate was just a bunch of low-level guys trying to impress their bosses and the only thing the higher-ups did wrong was not stop it.
I suggest viewing the documentary — with clips of Thompson at the hearings as well as his current comments — before declaring Thompson a pillar of integrity.
He’s already regularly blatantly lying in his public comments since he announced he was considering a Presidential run. He’s only going to get worse if he thinks he’s got a shot at the job. His revisionist history needs to be countered immediately.
June 19th, 2007 at 1:37 pm#51. Is it that he got his first wife pregnant while still in high school?
June 19th, 2007 at 1:41 pmHad a post removed, maybe for profanity??
Good for Woodward exposing the Presidential-fraud wannabe!! Hopefully, this is only an opening shot. Thompson is another liar extraordinaire…f**k him…he’s done!! …next?!
Comment by Styve — June 19, 2007 @ 1:52 am
June 19th, 2007 at 2:02 pmI’m telling you this fart sucking Thompson is as much a liar and deceiver as his neo-idiot friends surrounding Bush. God bless Ron Paul and let him kick ass on this nerd ball (who looks a little like that guy from the dial commercials; you know, someone who you’d never believe could smell good no matter how good the soap).
June 19th, 2007 at 9:34 pm