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'He fooled me,' says Deep Throat's boss

By wire services
Published June 27, 2005

WASHINGTON - Former FBI chief L. Patrick Gray III said in a television interview broadcast Sunday that his former deputy, W. Mark Felt, became the mysterious Watergate source known as Deep Throat out of personal revenge and "a desire to get rid of me."

Ending 32 years of silence about his role in the Watergate scandal, Gray told ABC's This Week that he had reacted with "total shock, total disbelief" to the revelation that Felt had held a series of secret meetings with Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward. He said he felt betrayed by Felt who had repeatedly assured him he was not Deep Throat.

"He fooled me," said Gray, 88, who was forced to step down as acting FBI chief in 1973 because of suspicions that he had facilitated the Watergate coverup. "It was like I was hit with a tremendous sledgehammer."

A former Justice Department official and submarine commander, Gray was appointed acting FBI director in May 1972 by President Nixon after the death of the bureau's legendary founder, J. Edgar Hoover.

During the interview, Gray acknowledged providing raw FBI investigative files to White House counsel John Dean and destroying several files found in the White House safe of Howard Hunt, the organizer of the Watergate break-in. But he denied complicity in the coverup.

NEW YORK - Marking a milestone moment for American religion and world evangelicalism, the Rev. Billy Graham on Sunday preached what could be his last revival sermon.

Graham, 86, told thousands of people gathered in Queens that he hopes "to come back again someday," and said he told journalists who asked if this is the end of his revival career, "I never say never."

His sermon appealing for decisions to follow Jesus emphasized that nobody knows the hour of death. Noting his own advanced age, he said, "I know it won't be long."

Graham's voice was strong, but he spoke for only 23 minutes before issuing his telltale invitation to listeners to come forward and publicly demonstrate commitments to Jesus as savior.

About 90,000 people flocked to Flushing Meadows-Corona Park despite blistering afternoon heat to hear his sermon.

SAN FRANCISCO - Undeterred by recent setbacks in the push to legalize same-sex marriage, tens of thousands of festively dressed people marched in parades around the country Sunday to celebrate the 35th anniversary of gay pride.

The annual pride parades commemorate the Stonewall uprising of 1969, a series of fights between gays and police in New York widely considered the beginning of the gay rights movement. The parades began the next year in 1970.

KNIFE ON FLIGHT: An American Airlines flight with 199 passengers on its way to Rome on Saturday returned to Chicago because a passenger found a knife, a spokeswoman said. The passenger on Flight 110 found the knife inside an airline-provided package containing a pillow and blanket, American spokeswoman Mary Frances Fagan said. The flight resumed Sunday morning.

[Last modified June 27, 2005, 01:06:48]