It looks like Thompson is being swiftboated. His heroic stand against the White House during the Watergate hearings is being trashed. He actually was a mole for Nixon (the worst crime in the world as far as the MSM are concerned):

The day before Senate Watergate Committee minority counsel Fred Thompson made the inquiry that launched him into the national spotlight — asking an aide to President Nixon whether there was a White House taping system — he telephoned Nixon’s lawyer.
Thompson tipped off the White House that the committee knew about the taping system and would be making the information public. In his all-but-forgotten Watergate memoir, “At That Point in Time,” Thompson said he acted with “no authority” in divulging the committee’s knowledge of the tapes, which provided the evidence that led to Nixon’s resignation. It was one of many Thompson leaks to the Nixon team, according to a former investigator for Democrats on the committee, Scott Armstrong , who remains upset at Thompson’s actions.
“Thompson was a mole for the White House,” Armstrong said in an interview. “Fred was working hammer and tong to defeat the investigation of finding out what happened to authorize Watergate and find out what the role of the president was.”

The author goes on to make a comparison between Thompson’s faith in Nixon’s innocence and his faith in the innocence of Libby:

But the story of his role in the Nixon case helps put in perspective Thompson’s recent stance as one of the most outspoken proponents of pardoning I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, the former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney. Just as Thompson once staunchly defended Nixon, Thompson urged a pardon for Libby, who was convicted in March of obstructing justice in the investigation into who leaked a CIA operative’s name.

Thompson declared in a June 6 radio commentary that Libby’s conviction was a “shocking injustice . . . created and enabled by federal officials.” Bush on Monday commuted Libby’s 30-month sentence, stopping short of a pardon.

The intensity of Thompson’s remarks about Libby is reminiscent of how he initially felt about Nixon. Few Republicans were stronger believers in Nixon during the early days of Watergate.

Thompson, in his 1975 memoir, wrote that he believed “there would be nothing incriminating” about Nixon on the tapes, a theory he said “proved totally wrong.

How are the two cases the same? Because they are both Republicans claiming their innocence? What is the implication of the comparison? That Thompson puts loyalties above the law? He puts his trust in shady characters? Did it ever occur to the author that even though Nixon was guilty, Libby might actually have been prosecuted to justify the years and money wasted by Fitzgerald for a case that was over as soon as he interviewed Novak?
But what strikes you about this hit piece is how old and decrepit are the charges. It’s as if you’re reading yellowed newspaper clippings. Who the heck cares about who asked what a 100 years ago? What does this have to do with the campaign being run today? The MSM reminds me of old men who sit in the corner muttering about what they did in the day. I think we’re at a point now that we have to move on from Watergate and leave behind the issues of a by gone era and start addressing the issues that we are facing today.
The next president has to deal with Iran, Iraq, Palestine, China, Russia, home grown terrorists here and in Europe and has to deal with the growing threat of cyber terrorism. It’s time to find the best candidate to handle the current threat, not dwell on who supported Nixon in the past.