Fred Thompson's Watergate Problem

[Swede]

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."

http://todd_beeton.mydd.com/story/2007/7/5/16280/08207

[Swamp Rat]

1. KICK! KICK!! KICK!!!

:kick:

[Cooley Hurd]

2. A man who ALWAYS puts party above his own country...

He should be deeply ashamed of himself.:thumbsdown:

[Swamp Rat]

4. Destroy Fred Thompson's run for prez before it get's off the ground!

He's yet another wooden-headed refucklican actor that needs to be taken out to pasture.

[ClassWarrior]

3. I second that kick...

:kick:

NGU.

[pretzel4gore]

5. he's a ratfink...

the usa (i mean all our western culture) has been defeated because men like this fred thompson guy got away with defying the public interest, for generation after generation crapping in the nation's soup! For example, bob dole, remember bob dole? he with the 'war injury' arm, in contrast to Big Bill Clinton? during the late nixon days, dole was called nixon's 'attack dog' (and this despite poor chuck colson running over his gramma for trickydick!) but at the time, the war in VNam was ending in spectacular disaster messy fashion, and WE knew about gulf/tonkin bs etc, so veteran status hardly helped anyone then, and dole never flaunted what 2 generations later he would- and in 1974 dole was a snarling punk threatening everybody in sight, yet he ran for prez as a 'moderate' 22 years later!)
it all comes back to the media. IF it's a pigmedia, then the earth is becoming a sty!

[Spazito]

6. Here is the Boston Globe article, it is a doozy....

Not all would put a heroic sheen on Thompson's Watergate role






snip

Thompson, in his 1975 memoir, wrote that he believed "there would be nothing incriminating" about Nixon on the tapes, a theory he said "proved totally wrong."

snip

Thompson was a little-known assistant US attorney in Tennessee when the Watergate investigation in Congress got underway. He had served as campaign manager for the successful 1972 reelection of Senator Howard Baker, a powerful Tennessee Republican.

snip

John Dean , Nixon's former White House counsel, who was a central witness at the hearings, said he believed that Baker and Thompson were anything but impartial players. "I knew that Thompson would be Baker's man, trying to protect Nixon," Dean said in an interview.

snip

"Even though I had no authority to act for the committee, I decided to call Fred Buzhardt at home" to tell him that the committee had learned about the taping system, Thompson wrote. "I wanted to be sure that the White House was fully aware of what was to be disclosed so that it could take appropriate action."

more, oh so much more

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2007/07/04/not_all_would_put_a_heroic_sheen_on_thompsons_watergate_role/


If you take these two statements by Dumb as Hell:

"Even though I had no authority to act for the committee, I decided to call Fred Buzhardt at home" to tell him that the committee had learned about the taping system, Thompson wrote. "I wanted to be sure that the White House was fully aware of what was to be disclosed so that it could take appropriate action."

and

Thompson, in his 1975 memoir, wrote that he believed "there would be nothing incriminating" about Nixon on the tapes, a theory he said "proved totally wrong."


You can only come to one conclusion and that is: Thompson believed there would be nothing incriminating on the tapes BECAUSE he had warned them to get rid of the incriminating parts and any shock he felt was because the tapes weren't "cleansed" sufficiently.

[struggle4progress]

7. Looks like Fred gave 'em the heads-up that led to the 18 minute gap

[jtrockville]

8. If someone told you a cocaine-head draft-dodger

who failed at every business venture he tried would run for president, would you have thought he'd win? Fred can shrug this off - he's "The Law and Order Guy". /sarcasm