Martha Beall Mitchell was wife of
John Mitchell, United States Attorney General under President
Richard Nixon. She was known as "The Mouth of the South" and contacted reporters about her husband's activities in the
Watergate scandal. Psychiatrist Brendan Maher named the
Martha Mitchell effect after her, since her claims were initially taken to be a sign of mental illness.
Sourced
- I don't believe in that "no comment" business. I always have a comment.
- Quoted by Nigel Rees in his book Why Do We Say ...? (1987), ISBN 0-7137-1944-3.
- See wikipedia on no comment.