For decades, Deep Throat was an unidentified source behind some of Bob Woodward’s Watergate reporting. The identity became public on May 31, 2005, when Vanity Fair disclosed that former FBI official W. Mark Felt had acknowledged the role. Woodward, Carl Bernstein and the Washington Post confirmed the identification. The magazine’s issue date was July 2005; that is not the announcement date. [1][2]
Felt occupied one of the highest positions in the Bureau. Its own history now acknowledges his leaks and the political pressure on the investigation. That gives a concrete explanation for his access to investigative information, without requiring a secret White House recording source or a composite invented by the reporters. [3]
It does not settle every account of a meeting or every interpretation of his motives. Institutional independence, anger at White House interference and personal ambition are hypotheses about motivation, not interchangeable proof. Sources can have mixed motives and still supply accurate information.
The decisive evidence must also stand beyond the source: financial records, witnesses, burglary exhibits and tapes. Exposing a source’s agenda can change how one assesses a tip; it cannot by itself make those independent records disappear.