WASHINGTON -- Throughout the guessing game over who was Deep Throat, Fred F. Fielding, who will be the new White House counsel, was near the top of everyone's list as Bob Woodward's and Carl Bernstein's most likely Watergate source.
After a four-year investigation, students at the University of Illinois School of Journalism concluded Fielding definitely was Deep Throat. Nixon aide H.R. Haldeman was convinced that Fielding was "Throat," as serious Deep Throat scholars called him.
Fielding had been associate counsel in the Nixon White House and later was counsel to the president in the Reagan White House. A member of the 9/11 commission, Fielding vetted all the Cabinet appointees for the Bush-Cheney transition, and the Bush White House continued to consult with him on personnel appointments and judicial nominations.
Fielding is a partner in a successful law firm: On behalf of NTP Inc., Wiley Rein & Fielding obtained a $450 million patent infringement settlement from Research In Motion Ltd. (RIM), the maker of BlackBerry wireless devices. No doubt with some of the contingency fees, Fielding's firm sends friends a box of chocolates instead of a Christmas card during the holiday season.
When asked if he was Deep Throat, Fielding would deny it. One of the most respected lawyers in Washington, he never seemed the type to be meeting with a reporter after midnight in a parking garage, as Woodward would meet with Deep Throat.
Over lunch at the Palm, Fielding recently revealed to me he actually had never spoken with Woodward until just weeks before Vanity Fair disclosed last spring that former FBI official W. Mark Felt was Deep Throat. The meeting between the two took place while Fielding was attending a charity event at the Kennedy Center. An usher suggested he and others at the event could avoid the crowds and get to a reception by leaving through a side door, which, it turned out, led them only to the parking garage. It was then that Fielding heard a voice behind him.
"I don't think we want to be seen going into a parking garage together," Bob Woodward said to him.
Unbeknownst to Hillary Clinton, the center of the vast right-wing conspiracy is the Capitol Hill home of Grover Norquist.
Norquist, the president of Americans for Tax Reform, runs an off-the-record, invitation-only meeting every Wednesday at ATR's office. There, 150 representatives of the White House, Republican congressional leadership, and conservative interest groups gather to exchange the latest intelligence on politics, strategy, and issues. But about 20 times a year, Norquist's home is the scene of even more hush-hush events ranging from Christmas parties to receptions for conservative think tanks from each state.
Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, Newt Gingrich, Karl Rove, Ken Mehlman, Sen. Bill Frist, Rep. Dennis Hastert, and Robert Novak are among those who have been on hand to sample the rack of lamb and beef Wellington.
Impressed by all the well-dressed, clean-cut people who seem to flock to Grover's house, a curious Washington Post reporter who is his neighbor asked him, "What's up with your name? Is it even theoretically possible to have a more conservative name? How about Throckmorton Humphington the Elder?"
"Believe it or not, my parents told me the alternative was Thor," Norquist replied.
"Thor may be the most conservative name ever," the reporter said. "That makes Grover sound like Che."
"They were also considering Siegurd," Norquist said.
"Could you imagine ever dating or marrying a liberal?"
"Dating, sure," Norquist said. "My girlfriend in business school was drop-dead gorgeous, and a socialist. But I simply couldn't marry someone who didn't understand the importance of cutting the capital gains tax — unless tremendous quantities of money were involved and she was old with a bad heart."
Norquist, 49, has since married Samah Alrayyes, 33, who used to work at the U.S. Agency for International Development. She is gorgeous, a Republican, and, according to Norquist, "very good on taxes."
As this year's White House Christmas parties were beginning, first lady Laura Bush held her annual slumber party with 10 of her Kappa Alpha Theta sorority sisters. The event consists of a luncheon and a sleepover at the White House.
Over lobster tacos, talk was revealing; Laura mentioned the procedure she had in November to remove a malignant tumor on her right shin.
At a previous luncheon for her friends from Southern Methodist University, the pastry chef made individual creme brulées in the shape of a candle.
"Sharon Dodson was trying to figure out how to eat it," Anne Lund Stewart, one of the guests, told me for my book
Sharon did as she was told.
"She cut into this hard chocolate candle, and the cream filling squirted right across Laura's chest," Stewart said. "Laura had just done TV with the networks and had on a red dress."
"Well, I'm not going to be invited back," Dodson said then.
But Sharon was at the sleepover again this year, and nothing untoward happened.
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