- On August 9, 1974, Richard Nixon became the first
and only U.S. president to resign from office.
Nixon had been hounded by scandal ever since
he was linked to the Watergate break-in by
"Washington Post" reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein.
Their story relied heavily on information
from an anonymous source known only as Deep Throat,
and for 33 years, the identity of this individual
who brought down the president
was one of history's greatest mysteries.
(dramatic instrumental music)
- [Narrator] United States of America, 1972, election year.
With a booming economy at his back,
President Richard Nixon's
reelection chances appear promising.
His opponent, George McGovern, is widely regarded
to be too extreme in his leftist views.
And coming off a decade of hippie counterculture,
the American people seek a mainstream president
to lead them into a new era.
But despite the favorable election forecast,
Nixon wants assurance.
As the U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War continues
to divide the country,
the president and his key advisors
deem a more forceful campaign to be necessary.
And so, they devise a plan beginning the chain of events
that would eventually lead
to one of the most recognizable scandals
of American political history: Watergate.
Washington, D.C., June 17th, 1972.
Some time after midnight,
men working for Nixon's committee to reelect the president
break into the Democratic National Committee headquarters
in the Watergate Complex
equipped with sophisticated tools of espionage.
In an attempt to bug phones and steal copies
of secret campaign documents,
they carry lock picks door jimmies, pin size tear gas guns,
radios, cameras, and stacks of $100 bills.
While the break-in makes front page news,
Nixon's involvement is not yet suspected.
A few weeks after the incident,
Nixon swears that his White House staff had no affiliation
or knowledge of the botched heist,
and the public believes him.
In November 1972, President Nixon wins reelection
by the largest popular vote margin
of any post-World War II president,
earning over 60% of votes.
But Nixon won't have long to revel in his victory.
Two young and ambitious Washington Post reporters,
Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein,
have already been compiling information
that would soon expose the scope of corruption
in the White House, leading all the way to the top.
Their reporting states not only that Nixon knew
about the Watergate break-in,
but that he arranged to provide hundreds of thousands
of dollars in hush money to the conspirators
through his campaign fund and commanded the CIA to obstruct
the FBI's investigation into the scandal.
These key pieces of information come primarily
from a lead anonymous source, a man with power,
a man with access to classified intelligence,
and a man whose identity remains a mystery
for over 30 years: Deep Throat.
There are four main types of informational sources
in journalism: off-the-record, on-the-record,
background, and deep background.
Off-the-record information cannot be published
in any capacity,
whereas on-the-record information
can be freely publicized
and attributed to an individual by name and title.
Background information can be published
with only a vague title,
whereas deep background information can be published
with no identifiable information about the source.
When scandal and corruption infiltrate
the most powerful offices of American politics,
an on-the-record testimony could prove harmful
to the source of the information.
The deep background nature of the Watergate whistleblower
inspires the managing editor of the Post to bestow
on its key informant the pseudonym Deep Throat,
not so subtly alluding to the controversial,
but widely viewed 1972 pornographic film
of the same name.
Bernstein and Woodward keep Deep Throat
and his identity safe for over three decades.
A mystery of this scope begs massive speculation.
Two years after the story breaks,
two months before Nixon resigns,
Woodward and Bernstein author a book contributing clues
about Woodward's relationship with Deep Throat.
They write that he is an old friend and sometimes source
who worked for the federal government
and did not like to be called at his office.
They continue by providing insight
into Deep Throat's psyche,
calling him a man whose fight had been worn out
in too many battles and an incurable gossip.
While Woodward may describe Deep Throat as a gossip,
the anonymous source rarely volunteers new information,
and only confirms facts to help keep
the investigation on track.
Careful and calculating, Deep Throat uses his background
and investigative intelligence to devise a plan
that allows Woodward to meet with him without being spotted.
When Woodward needs information from Deep Throat,
he moves a plant pot with a red flag
to a different area on his balcony.
And if Deep Throat needs to get in touch with Woodward,
he delivers a newspaper circling a section in pen
on an inside page.
On the way to the meeting, Woodward takes multiple taxis
and a roundabout route.
After analyzing Woodward and Bernstein's book for clues
to Deep Throat's identity, scholars remain mystified.
Experts claim that no single person fits the bill
and accuse The Washington Post reporters
of condensing multiple sources into one amalgamation.
Other critics allege that Woodward and Bernstein
created Deep Throat without a real source to back it up.
A long list of names within the White House
and intelligence agencies are deemed plausible,
but none have enough evidence to unequivocally prove
Deep Throat's identity.
So, who is this paranoid, mysterious figure?
And perhaps more importantly, what are his motives?
While Deep Throat plays a vital role in expelling corruption
from the Oval Office,
his true intentions may not be as patriotic
as one would assume.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation,
the pinnacle of organized intelligence
and the chief investigating agency into the alleged crimes
of Nixon and his aides.
The information leaked by Deep Throat points
to the likelihood that he holds a high ranking position
within the bureau,
most likely with close ties to its founder, J. Edgar Hoover.
After 36 years of building the FBI
into a crime fighting world leader,
Hoover dies of a heart attack in May of 1972.
He has been plagued by controversy
in the years leading up to his death,
earning a reputation for abusing power
and overextending the FBI's reach.
Not unlike Nixon,
Hoover experiences his fair share of public scrutiny,
but waiting in the wings to take Hoover's former role
as director of the FBI is its new second-in-command,
the man in charge of day-to-day operations,
and leader of the Watergate investigations, Mark Felt.
After months of White House interference
with the Watergate investigation,
Felt knows the likelihood of justice is fleeting,
Without media coverage and public pressure,
the crimes of the Nixon administration
would go unpunished,
so he makes a decision to take matters into his own hands,
leaking information to Woodward
and simultaneously cementing his place in history
as the infamous and mysterious figure
known only to the people as Deep Throat.
Mark Felt risks his safety and his career
when he shares the secrets of Watergate
with Woodward and Bernstein,
but are his actions as noble as they appear?
Or is Felt attempting to oust a White House
that consistently undermines the power of his agency?
The evidence is murky.
Rather than conducting an above-board investigation,
multiple agents claimed that Felt purposefully
obstructs efforts by the new FBI director,
William Ruckelshaus, to bring Nixon to justice.
Along with his alleged obstruction,
Felt has gained a reputation for being
a strong follower of Hoover,
purging the bureau of the dictatorial
FBI founder's critics.
Being passed over for the director position multiple times
only gives skeptics more reason to doubt the nobility
of Felt's whistleblowing.
Whatever his motives, Mark Felt plays a crucial role
in unraveling one of America's greatest scandals,
and in 2005, he solves one of America's greatest mysteries
by revealing himself as the formerly anonymous
Watergate whistleblower in a Vanity Fair article.
At the age of 91, Mark Felt ends
the decades-long speculation by declaring,
"I am the guy they used to call Deep Throat."
(dramatic instrumental music)
- And so, despite three decades of intense media scrutiny
and speculation, Woodward and Bernstein managed to keep
their prize source's identity a secret.
Mark Felt, the man once known as Deep Throat,
was able to step into the public eye on his own terms.
He's no longer just an anonymous source
and no longer one of history's greatest mystery.
(dramatic instrumental music)