Phil Houston Cited in Article About Gap in Nixon White House Tapes

The online monthly Washington Decoded earlier this month published an in-depth article about the infamous 18-1/2 minute gap in the Nixon White House tapes in 1972 -- what the article called "one of Watergate's most enduring and tantalizing mysteries." QVerity CEO Phil Houston, who has conducted a behavioral analysis of conversations among the parties involved in the matter, is cited prominently in the article:

And then there is the very powerful “truth in a lie.” Philip Houston, a former CIA employee whose job it was to catch double agents, and recent co-author of the best-seller Spy the Lie, uses a quote from Vice President Spiro T. Agnew to explain the concept.

“I apologize for lying to you,” Agnew once said, “and I promise I won’t deceive you except in matters of this sort [emphasis added].”

As Houston explains it, a liar, without even realizing it, will often “say things that reveal what in reality he knows to be the truth.” Houston calls this phenomenon “unintended messages” or simply “truth in a lie.” In the Agnew example, the disgraced vice president was saying that he would indeed continue to lie “in matters of this sort.”  It was a revealing message buried in an otherwise truthful apology.

To read the full article, click here.