The world didn’t know that FBI associate director W. Mark Felt was the anonymous source known as “Deep Throat” for Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward’s coverage of the Watergate scandal until 2005. However, a recording from UVA’s Miller Center shows that President Richard Nixon had a pretty good idea that Felt, who passed away yesterday at the age of 95, was the Post’s inside man. On October 19, 1972, nine days after an article claiming the Watergate burglary was part of a greater campaign of political spying by the FBI, Nixon chief of staff H.R. Haldeman told Nixon that an internal investigation turned up Felt’s name, to which Nixon responded, “Why the hell would he do that?” When Haldeman explains his suspicion, he advises Nixon not to retaliate against Felt for fear he’d reveal “everything there is to know.” Nixon agreed. “Do anything?” he said, “Never!”
–FBI file photo