Identity of “Deep Throat” Revealed 33 Years after the Scandal

The unidentified source "Deep Throat" during the Watergate scandal in 1972, which forced then-U.S. President Richard Nixon to resign, has finally been identified as W. Mark Felt, the No.2 person in the FBI at that time. One of the greatest mysteries of the world’s journalism history is now solved.

The Washington Post, which exclusively reported the scandal, officially verified yesterday Vanity Fair`s report that identified the source after confirmation from Felt himself.

The monthly magazine put the report in its July edition, revealing the story about how lawyer John O`Connor, a former federal prosecutor, managed to identify Felt as "Deep Throat."

Bob Woodward, the assistant managing editor of Washington Post, and Carl Bernstein, a freelancer reporter, who had jointly reported the scandal, said that Felt was an enormous help to their report and added that other sources and administrators were also helpful in hundreds of other related reports.

The Washington Post reported in its June 1 edition that the White House tried to cover up the incident and discouraged the investigation, and the motivation behind Felt`s revelation was mainly because he, then the No.2 of the organization, was not promoted to become the head of the FBI.

Woodward had refused to reveal the source, citing his commitment that the identity of the source should be revealed only after the person’s death, but withdrew this rule after Vanity Fair`s report and confirmation from Felt`s family.

Woodward will put the in-depth report behind reporting the Watergate Scandal in the newspaper`s June 2 edition.

Soon-TaekKwon maypole@donga.com