A former FBI official has claimed to be the infamous "Deep Throat," the mysterious source who leaked secrets about U.S. president Richard Nixon's involvement in the Watergate scandal to two Washington Post reporters, Vanity Fair magazine reported Tuesday.
W. Mark Felt, a 91-year-old retiree who now lives in Santa Rosa Calif., was second in command at the FBI in the early 1970s.
The existence of Deep Throat was revealed by Post journalists Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein in their best-selling book All the President's Men. Deep Throat, whose identity has remained an enduring mystery among political junkies and journalists, was said to have guided Mr. Woodward and Mr. Bernstein in the quest for the men responsible for breaking into the Democratic offices in the Watergate hotel in 1972.
In a statement released Tuesday, Mr. Woodward said he was aware of the Vanity Fair article but insisted that none of the three men party to Deep Throat's identity - himself, Bernstein and former Post editor Ben Bradlee - would comment on its accuracy.
"We've gone down this road for 30 years. And for 30 years we have not said anything. That won't change today," Mr. Woodward said.
Allegations that the highest-ranking government officials, including Mr. Nixon, had sanctioned the break-in, shattered the administration and led to the president's resignation.
A hit movie followed All the President's Men, but the identity of Deep Throat, now surrounded by a mythos of romance and intrigue, has remained a secret for more than 30 years.
"(The relevation) will end a lot of fun," said Suanne Kelman, interim chair of Journalism at Ryerson University. "The only reason that this has been a mystery for so long is because it's rare for a secret not to get out."
Deep Throat was good news for anonymous sources, Kelman said, because he proves that journalists can keep a secret.
Mr. Felt says that he kept the secret from even his family until 2002, according to Vanity Fair.
"I'm the guy they used to call Deep Throat," he told lawyer John D. O'Connor, the author of the Vanity Fair article, the magazine said in a news release.
Mr. Felt was adamant about remaining silent on the subject until his family persuaded him to come forward. He said he feared that his disclosures were dishonourable or even illegal.
"I don't think (being Deep Throat) was anything to be proud of," Mr. Felt told his son, Mark Jr., according to the article. "You (should) not leak information to anyone."
His family members disagreed. Mr. Felt's daughter, Joan, told Vanity Fair that she pleaded with her father to reveal himself so that that he might receive accolades for his role in Watergate before his death.
"The family believes that my grandfather, Mark Felt Sr., is a great American hero who went well above and beyond the call of duty at much risk to himself to save his country from a horrible injustice," a family statement read by grandson Nick Jones said. "We all sincerely hope the country will see him this way as well."
She recounted to the magazine about how she tried to elicit information from her father as they were watching a Watergate TV special.
When his name came up as one of the possible "Deep Throat" candidates, she said she questioned her father.
"Do you think Deep Throat wanted to get rid of Nixon?" she asked.
"No, I wasn't trying to bring him down," Mr. Felt responded, saying that he was "only doing his duty."
His daughter finally persuaded Mr. Felt to go public by saying that the story might help to pay for his grandchildren's education.
Joan said she had also tried confirming Mr. Felt's involvement with Mr. Woodward, but he refused.
Over the past three decades, Mr. Felt was one among many sources speculated to be Deep Throat.
Others named included Assistant Attorney General Henry Peterson, deputy White House counsel Fred Fielding, and even ABC newswoman Diane Sawyer, who then worked in the White House press office. Ron Zeigler, Nixon's press secretary, White House aide Steven Bull, speechwriters Ray Price and Pat Buchanan, and John Dean, the White House counsel who warned Nixon of "a cancer growing on the presidency," were also considered candidates.
In 2003, Mr. Woodward and Mr. Bernstein said documents naming Deep Throat would be kept secret at an undisclosed location in Washington until the source's death.
In February, Mr. Dean, wrote in the Los Angeles Times that Deep Throat was ill and near death, though Mr. Dean said he didn't know the source's identity.
With files from Associated Press