War Room - Salon.com

Tuesday, May 31, 2005 09:25 PDT

Is he Deep Throat?

A retired FBI agent says he was the secret source who helped Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein unravel the story of Watergate.

By Tim Grieve

There has been a new wave of speculation about the identity of "Deep Throat" in recent months, and it may -- may -- be coming to an end. Vanity Fair is reporting that a former FBI agent named W. Mark Felt claims that he was the source who helped Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein unravel the story of Watergate.

According to the Associated Press, Felt was second-in-command at the FBI in the early 1970s. Felt tells Vanity Fair: "I'm the guy they used to call Deep Throat."

Felt says that he didn't come forward sooner because he felt that one shouldn't be proud of leaking information. There's no immediate word from Woodward, Bernstein or the Washington Post, which was reportedly planning to reveal the identity of Deep Throat after his death. Felt is 91 and still alive.