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Who Was Deep Throat?
August 6, 1999 WASHINGTON (CNN) -- There never has been a shortage of guesses about the identity of "Deep Throat," Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward's celebrated source during the newspaper's Watergate coverage. But everyone who has been fingered -- from presidential aide Al Haig to press assistant Diane Sawyer to presidential lawyer Leonard Garment -- has denied it, and it remains a mystery to this day. Woodward has said he will not identify the source as long as the person is alive, or until he releases him "from our agreement of confidentiality." But he did indicate, during an appearance today on NBC's "Today Show," that he remains in touch with him. Woodward also said that Deep Throat deceived his colleagues in denying he was the source. "Twenty-five years ago he was risking a great deal personally and professionally," Woodward said. "You may assume that in the course of this he was not truthful with colleagues and family members and he denied that he had provided information." Some Watergate buffs and former Nixon Administration officials have suggested Deep Throat was a composite, a literary device to add some cloak-and-dagger drama to Woodward and Carl Bernstein's 1974 book, "All The President's Men." After all, some of the best scenes in the book involve clandestine, middle-of-the-night meetings in parking garages between Woodward and the source, arranged with a flower-pot-on-the-balcony signal. But Woodward has said Deep Throat was a person, not a melange of informants. "It would be absurd for it to be a composite," he told The Associated Press. Bernstein agrees, insisting "'Deep Throat' does exist." "He was and is one person -- exactly who we have said, a highly placed official in the executive branch. ... If we had made up 'Deep Throat,' we would have been fired." Katharine Graham, the Post's publisher during the Watergate era, wrote in her memoirs that her newspaper's top editor, Ben Bradlee, assured her of the "Deep Throat's" reliability. "It's why I remain convinced that there was such a person and that he ... was neither made up nor an amalgam or a composite of a number of people, as has often been hypothesized," she wrote. Bradlee, who waited until after Richard Nixon resigned to asked Woodward to tell him Deep Throat's identity, has said he "never told a soul" who the source was. In their book, the reporters said Woodward's source was "in the Executive Branch" and "had access to information at CRP [Committee for the Re-election of the President] as well as at the White House." Woodward had taken to calling him "my friend." But because the source insisted on talking on deep background -- no quotations, even anonymously -- then-Post Managing Editor Howard Simons coined the nickname, "Deep Throat," after the title of a famous pornographic movie of the era. Some of the other suggested candidates over the years have included William Casey, who served the administration in several capacities and later headed the CIA; then-Assistant Attorney General Henry Petersen; and John Dean's deputy, Fred Fielding. |
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MORE STORIES:Friday, August 6, 1999
• Clinton, Republicans begin recess battle over tax cuts • Who Was Deep Throat? • Bush courts Hispanic votes in Iowa • Pataki endorses Giuliani in Republican U.S. Senate race • Video: FEC proposes new campaign Web site rules • Clinton orders study on policing the Internet • Fewer Americans know Watergate details, but most say Nixon was right to quit • Lott says he wants emergency farm aid cut • Hubbell says Whitewater constituted a probe 'looking for a crime' • Candidates respond to the House tax relief package • Gore and son climbing Rainier • Gingrich outraises his former colleagues • Joint committee opens talks on juvenile violence, gun legislation • Congress begins recess, leaving huge spending task for fall • Feds drop investigation of former congressman, business associate • GOP leaders backing right to sue HMOs • Hillary Clinton has Jewish branch on family tree • Hatch asks Rehnquist to review assignments of Clinton judges • U.S. Senate passes bill to outlaw 'cybersquatting' • Architect chosen for Clinton library in Arkansas | |||||||||||||||