Still Trying to Clear Nixon’s Name

Two Truthdig contributors are under siege by an “independent historian” and The New York Times. If that sounds preposterous, just wait until you see what made it onto the front page. Last Sunday, the paper of record cited an unpublished article contending that historian Stanley Kutler deliberately altered transcripts of Nixon’s secret tapes in order to protect John Dean.

To what end? Kutler explains that it’s the latest salvo in a decades-long effort to create “Watergate Without Nixon.” As Dean puts it, “these Watergate revisionists elevated by The Times seek to create a false history.”

The former White House counsel, whom Kutler suspects is the real target of the smear, said that after he read the article, “I was sure I could hear a desperation death rattle of dead-tree journalism.”

Kutler and Dean have each systematically refuted the claims, here and here. The original Times piece can be found here.