Bob Woodward spills his ‘Secrets’

Woodward’s new book unravels the lingering mystery of how he managed to slip into then-CIA Director William J. Casey’s room at Georgetown Hospital in 1987 and extract a bedside confession from the mortally ill spymaster that he knew about the diversion of profits from arms sales behind the Iran-contra scandal. Some CIA leaders and Casey’s widow accused Woodward of making up the encounter for his 1987 book, “Veil,” an account of the CIA’s secret wars during the Reagan administration. They said it was unfathomable that he could gain unauthorized access to the well-guarded Casey, much less get him to talk after seizures and brain surgery had rendered him largely mute.

In “Secrets,” Woodward explains that he had methodically cultivated members of Casey’s security detail as sources for years. The tactic paid off. Instead of kicking Woodward out when he showed up at the hospital uninvited, one of the guards greeted him warmly — “Hi, Bob” — and the protective unit let him speak with Casey.

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