An easy job

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Washington, D.C.

W. Mark Felt, the former FBI official who recently revealed he was the Watergate informant known as Deep Throat, was once put in charge of investigating the source of his own leaks, The Nation reported this week. In a September 1972 memo, Felt claimed The Washington Post had received secret FBI information from someone outside the agency, possibly a Miami prosecutor who was investigating the case. As the scandal was unfolding, Felt directed FBI agents to chase down leads that pointed to another FBI official as the leaker. In reality, of course, the leaker was himself. “From this vantage point,” The Nation reported, Felt “was able to watch his own back and protect his ability to guide the two reporters whose exposés would help topple the president he served.”

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