Ethics Newsline®

Special to Newsline from Editor Carl Hausman

WASHINGTON
The stunning disclosure that the former No. 2 man in the FBI was the legendary Watergate source Deep Throat has provoked a national debate on the ethics of whistle-blowing, with some characterizing 91-year-old Mark Felt as a civic-minded hero while others say he betrayed a public trust.

Writing in the New York Times, political reporter Katharine Seelye noted that while many observers say that Felt played an honorable role in helping expose government misconduct, Felt’s “role as a newspaper informer raises questions about the obligations of officials at institutions like the FBI.”

“Should those obligations be defined as adhering to the regulations of the bureau and the laws about releasing secret information?” Seelye wrote. “Or is there a higher calling when law enforcement officials think that they are being obstructed at the highest levels of government?”

Retired FBI agents interviewed by USA Today expressed mixed emotions about Felt’s actions. James DeSarno, former head of the FBI’s Los Angeles office, said that by divulging information to Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward, Felt broke a law against releasing information being heard by a grand jury.

“The government’s trust that was placed in him was somewhat tarnished,” DeSarno said. “Isn’t that why there are three separate branches of government? And one of the branches of government isn’t the press.”

Others are reserving judgment until Felt’s motives are clarified. Presidential historian Robert Dallek noted that Felt expected to be named head of the FBI after the death of J. Edgar Hoover, and was resentful that Nixon passed him over and appointed an outsider to oversee the agency.

“If this was a vendetta, then that would devalue what he did,” Dallek told the New York Times. “But people never operate strictly out of one motive or another. He was clearly offended by the constitutional breaches that had occurred, but he was probably fueled by a certain amount of resentment at the politicization of the FBI.”

Money issues also clouded the issues swirling around the revelation. NBC News Washington Bureau Chief Tim Russert noted that Felt and his family were motivated to reveal his identity not only so Felt could have his “day in the sun,” but also for profit. “They do think they also can make some money,” Russert told MSNBC. “They’ve been very open about that. They can pay off tuition bills. Mr. Felt said that the other day. I don’t think there’s any other dark secret behind it.”

In any event, Felt probably will not be prosecuted for releasing the information, according to U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. “It happened a long time ago,” Gonzales told the Associated Press. “The department has a lot of other priorities.”

Gonzales would not comment on whether Felt was a hero or criminal, saying he would “leave it to history to make that determination,” echoing comments by President Bush, who also declined to weigh in on the matter.