Ehrlichman IDs Kissinger as 'Deep Throat'

The identity of "Deep Throat" – the mysterious source that helped Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein break open the Watergate scandal that ended Richard Nixon's presidency – has never been revealed, although it's been the object of much speculation over the past 30 years.

Henry Kissinger

Now, it turns out that one of Nixon's top aides, John Ehrlichman, who spent time in prison for his role in Watergate, stated unequivocably that "Deep Throat" was none other than Henry Kissinger, who was Nixon's national security adviser from 1969 to 1973.

According to a report in "Editor and Publisher," a key publishing trade magazine, the information comes from Walter Anderson, chairman and CEO of Parade magazine and a close friend of Ehrlichman. Although Ehrlichman died in 1999, Anderson says the former top Nixon aide ID'd Kissinger as "Deep Throat" more than two decades ago in a conversation they had.

"He was absolutely convinced of it," Anderson told Editor and Publisher. "Ehrlichman argued that Kissinger was high enough in the organization to have the information, and understand it, close enough to Nixon to know all the details, and he was virtually untarnished by the Watergate scandal, particularly in the press."

Anderson met Ehrlichman in April 1981, according to the trade magazine, shortly after Ehrichman finished his 18-month sentence in federal prison for perjury and conspiracy in the Watergate cover-up. After hiring Ehrlichman to do some writing for Parade, Anderson later urged him to spill his guts on Watergate. Ehrlichman complied, penning a 1982 article published in Parade.

But now, Anderson reveals to E&P, within a few months Anderson asked Ehrlichman the one question not yet covered – the identity of "Deep Throat," the vital all-knowing source that told Woodward that to unravel the scandal he had to "follow the money."

"Without missing a beat," Anderson told E&P, "he said, Henry Kissinger. He believed it very strongly. I was taken aback that he answered so quickly and so assuredly. I didn't expect that. … He was so declarative ... absolutely convinced that Kissinger was Deep Throat."

Woodward and Bernstein, the Washington Post reporters whose journalistic exploits became a best-selling book and hit movie, both named "All the President's Men," which in turn inspired a generation of reporters, have said they will reveal Deep Throat's identity after he dies.