Isn't That Interesting?

Everybody's talking about an intriguing article from yesterday's Boston Globe. Fred Thompson first came to national prominence as minority counsel for the Senate Watergate Committee. You remember the Senate Watergate Committee. They investigated Richard Nixon, uncovered much of the wrongdoing that went on in the Oval Office during his administration, and ultimately forced the situation that brought him to resign. It's legendary for the Republicans who followed the facts no matter where they led, putting duty to country ahead of the interests of their party and president.

Of course, things are rarely as simple as they seem. It could easily be argued that committee Republicans actually were acting in self-interest because Nixon had become so toxic that it had become clear he'd pull the party down if he weren't pushed aside. But that wasn't obvious at first, so not unexpectedly, many Republicans started out trying to defend the President. Thompson was the lawyer who publicly asked the question that revealed Nixon's White House taping system. Because no good lawyers ask questions to which they don't already know the answers, Thompson and the committee had already been aware of the taping system before it became public. No dummy, he realized that this is the kind of bombshell that can do real damage if it hit the White House unexpectedly, so he did what any good party loyalist would do. He tipped off the White House and leaked the testimony.

Wow, that substantially undermines Thompson's credibility as Mr. Law & Order. How did intrepid reporter Michael Kranish get such a story? Did he dig into thirty-year-old transcripts? Did some ancient source divulge the secret after all these years? No, Thompson wrote about it in a book he wrote shortly after the Watergate scandal. "Even though I had no authority to act for the committee, I decided to call [Nixon's lawyer] Fred Buzhardt at home," Thompson wrote in his memoir. "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." Well, sure--if you're going after a criminal enterprise, you want to make sure they're not caught with their pants down.

While I'm not a lawyer and can't say for sure, that sounds highly unethical to me. And apparently it didn't seem to kosher to other lawyers working with the Committee. Scott Armstrong, an investigator for committee Democrats, told the Globe, "Thompson was a mole for the White House." Instead of working for the committee, "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." Thompson's position caused dissension in the ranks, as others on the team believed he'd been leaking to the Nixon and his lawyers all along and should have been fired as a result. "Any prosecutor would be upset if another member of the prosecution team was orchestrating a defense for Nixon," Armstrong told the Globe.

None of this comes as a surprise to anyone who's watched Thompson's recent cheerleading for Scooter Libby. As a key player on Scooter's defense fund, he's been at the forefront of those seeking to make sure Scooter avoids punishment and responsibility for his crime of exposing CIA agent Valerie Plame. It's obvious in hindsight that he'd seek to do the same for Nixon. What's most surprising to me in all this, though, is Thompson's original reaction upon learning about Nixon's White House tapes. He supported the investigation of them because he believed they would exonerate the President. Nixon's was a smart guy, Thompson believed. He wouldn't allow anything incriminating to exist in such a way. Now that's the kind if judgment you want in a president.