Chase Culeman-Beckman

What could have possibly prompted newspapers from Hartford to Sydney, Australia, to court Chase Culeman-Beckman, the same 20-year-old with long, blond hair and untrimmed sideburns who occasionally supervises swimmers at the YMCA on East Putnam Avenue.

He looks more like a refugee from a southern California surf camp, said Watergate author Adrian Havill, describing Culeman-Beckman after seeing him recently being interviewed on the Today show.

Simple, the former Greenwich Country Day School student had a grave political secret to tell the world.

Culeman-Beckman claims he was once told the identity of Deep Throat by his childhood friend Jacob Bernstein, the son of former Washington Post reporter Carl Bernstein.The revelation of the name W. Mark Felt came 12 years ago at a summer camp in the Hamptons on Long Island, Culeman-Beckman said.Felt is the former associate director of the FBI.

It was quite meaningless to me at the time, he said.

Deep Throat was the name Bernstein and colleague Bob Woodward gave to the anonymous source who helped them unravel Watergate.

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On the same day as the 26th anniversary of Nixon's resignation, Culeman-Beckman defended his story last Wednesday, saying the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists, Woodward and Bernstein, never fully denied that Felt is Deep Throat.
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By contrast, Woodward and Bernstein outright dismissed a theory in Leonard Garment's book identifying former Nixon confidant John Sears as Deep Throat, Culeman-Beckman said.

They immediately eliminated John Sears as a suspect, he said.

If he appears quite gung-ho over his theory, maybe it is because Culeman-Beckman waited so long before making the revelation.

Culeman-Beckman, who will be a sophomore at the University of Southern California this fall after transferring from Rollins College in Florida, said he was advised by his parents to wait until he turned 18 to go public so he could release them from potential financial liability stemming from his claim.

The Port Chester, N.Y., resident said his parents supported his wishes to come forward, and that he told his mother about the secret the same summer Jacob Bernstein revealed it.

(My parents) thought I should pursue it É but correctly, Culeman-Beckman said.I guess by the time I realized what he had told me I wanted to verify it, and research was the only way..

An avid reader and guitarist, Culeman-Beckman, who is an only child, researched Watergate.
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Culeman-Beckman even went as far as scrutinizing book titles by the Pulitzer Prize-winners, and phrases and characters from the movie.

Actor Hal Holbrook, who plays Deep Throat in All the President's Men, looks like Felt, now 86 and living in California, Culeman-Beckman said.

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Culeman-Beckman also looked closely at the title of Woodward and Bernstein's second book, The Final Days, and was able to come up with the word Felt among the letters.

It is true Woodward liked to play word games, Havill said.

After Culeman-Beckman's history teacher called his work too speculative, the teenager unsuccessfully shopped his history paper to several publishers.After e-mailing and writing Havill, Culeman-Beckman said he finally got recognition.

Culeman-Beckman, who eventually wants to write or collaborate on a book on the subject, admitted his age was a barrier in gaining credibility.

He do not look like a nerd who was locked up in a closet poring over Watergate, Havill said.

Havill ultimately connected Culeman-Beckman to a newspaper friend last year who reported the story.
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Culeman-Beckman, an accomplished sailor who tried out for the U.S. Olympic sailing team in April, have not spoken to Jacob Bernstein in over a decade, and said Carl Bernstein and Woodward may understandably be upset by his claim.
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When asked if the identity of Deep Throat will ever be divulged, Culeman-Beckman encouraged the journalists to do so.

I think he should be accountable for his actions, Culeman-Beckman said of Deep Throat.