Okay, I was positive Deep Throat was Patrick J. Buchanan, as I argued and explained in the previous post. Then I got an email from a Talking Points reader who told me that on Hardball tonight Buchanan “gave a rousing denial to Chris Matthews.”
Well, hmmm.
I didn’t think that killed my theory; but I’d be lying if I told you it didn’t seem to land a pretty solid left hook on it. After all, Deep Throat has an obvious reason to lie about his role. The fact that Woodward would so conspicuously refuse to deny the allegation still spoke volumes.
In any case, I flipped on Hardball for the 9 PM replay and watched attentively and with no little apprehension until Buchanan and David Gergen were interviewed in the last two segments.
And now I’m even more positive that it’s Buchanan.
I’ll post the transcript when I get it and then we’ll know word for word. But, as I heard it, Buchanan gave a very artful but also quite clear non-denial denial. I listened very closely for any sort of specific declarative denial. And I never heard it. Gergen denied it; but not Pat.
He said he wouldn’t hang out in a basement parking garage to meet a reporter, that the Nixon loyalists wouldn’t have betrayed Nixon, yada, yada, yada. But no denial.
Look, the real denial talks and ‘yada’ walks. Or something like that. Okay, that didn’t work. But the bottom line, if it’s not him why no real denial?
And for Chris Matthews? You totally didn’t follow up! What’s it now? “I’m Chris Matthews. Let’s play T-ball”?
P.S. Late update: Another reader now writes in to tell me that Buchanan gave an “unqualified denial
to Chris Wallace later on MSNBC.” We’ll see. I mean, I want to confirm this, if true. But to find out I’d have to sit down on the couch and watch hours of MSNBC? Is it really worth it?
P.P.S … Okay, now I have listened to what turns out to have been Forrest Sawyer’s interview with Buchanan on MSNBC. And after a few yadas, Sawyer pressed Buchanan and he responded by what I heard as “I, Patrick Buchanan, am not Deep Throat.” But, frankly, I’m not yet convinced.
