John D. O'Connor
Succesful Attorney and Author of A G-Man's Life: The FBI, Being Deep Throat, and the Struggle for Honor in Washington
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San Francisco, California, United States
John D. O'Connor
Biography
John O'Connor is an attorney who has practiced law in California for over forty-nine years, beginning his first job on the Monday after the June 17, 1972 Watergate arrests. He graduated from the University of Notre Dame, magna cum laude, in 1968 and the University of Michigan Law School in 1972, cum laude, where he was an Editor of the Michigan Law Review. He has tried over seventy cases in state and federal courts throughout the country, and has consistently been named a Northern California SuperLawyer by his peers. He is a former federal prosecutor in San Francisco, who was assigned several cases in the 1970s involving terrorist groups, including significant work on the Fifth Amendment and psychiatric issues in the Patricia Hearst prosecution.
His favorite case, though, was one not filed in Court. In 1974, while he was a young prosecutor, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein of the Washington Post published their account of Watergate journalism featuring mysterious supersource, Deep Throat. John was deeply interested in naming this hero, because his identity would tell us much about the self-curative powers of democratic systems. For well over two years, he thought deeply about the mystery, finally in late 1976 concluding with certainty that Deep Throat was Mark Felt, the Associate Director of the FBI.
At this point, preparatory to getting married and going into private practice, he assigned all his criminal cases to an inexperienced new colleague, Robert Mueller, put aside his Deep Throat hobby, and worried about paying for the education of his soon to come children.
One of these children attended Stanford University, where her best friend was Nick Jones, grandson of Mark Felt. The rest, as they say, is history.
John has written two books on Watergate. He co-authored G-Man's Life with his client Mark Felt, a/k/a Deep Throat, and wrote Postgate: How the Washington Post Betrayed Deep Throat, Covered Up Watergate, And Began Today's Partisan Advocacy Journalism. He was also the Associate Producer of the feature film, Mark Felt: The Man Who Brought Down The White House, starring Liam Neeson and Diane Lane.
He is a frequent guest commentator on radio and television programs, and the author of numerous articles and op-eds on respected online news and opinion sites.
John understands the part of Watergate that has for fifty years been concealed by the Post, and as well the connection of Watergate journalism to today's political upheavals. He speaks frequently on both "Russiagate" and the Durham investigation of it, including their links to our country's most salacious scandal, Watergate.
John's deep knowledge, commonsense explanations of it, and an irrepressible sense of humor make him an entertaining speaker
John D. O'Connor
Featured Keynote Program
Deep Throat and The Deep Secrets of Watergate
How Mark Felt's Heroism Is So Important Today
San Francisco trial lawyer John O'Connor stunned the world on May 31, 2005, when he announced, through his Vanity Fair article, that his client Mark Felt was Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward's legendary source Deep Throat. Since then John has co-authored the authoritative book on Deep Throat, entitled A G-Man's Life: The FBI, Being Deep Throat, and the Struggle for Honor in Washington and has obtained a movie contract with Universal Studios for Playtone Productions, Tom Hanks' production company.A former federal prosecutor with an encyclopedic knowledge of Watergate, John knows intimately the inside, little understood, but fascinating story of Deep Throat's motivation, methods and impact upon the most important political story in modern history. He as well can relate the absorbing personal tale both of tragedies Mark endured because of his courageous actions and also of the warm redemption he recently experienced as a result.John will show how Mark's form of quiet, conscientious heroism is critical today to both principled government and to honest business dealings. More importantly, he will show how this heroism often leads a business executive to a consistent, purposeful and fulfilling life, even though, or perhaps because, this heroism will generally go unrewarded and unrecognized, like that of Deep Throat.A dynamic, humorous and entertaining speaker, John will bring to life an exciting era of our nation's history, tailored to the interests of the audience, including many fascinating and little-known aspects of the subject.Why Mark Felt needed to go "out of the box" to become Bob Woodward's secret source How Mark Felt helped Bob Woodward expose Watergate, and how the key element of this assistance has been largely ignored by modern journalism. How Mark Felt fought terrorism while still protecting our civil liberties. How Mark Felt was victimized by his most honorable and courageous acts. What governmental institution was most responsible for the Watergate cover-up, yet largely escaped blame. How the CIA successfully covered up its involvement in Watergate and related activities. Why Mark Felt wished never to have his role revealed, and why he finally acknowledged his identity.
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