The Washington Post journalists who broke the story of the Watergate scandal that led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon in 1974 have confirmed that their main source was the then Deputy Director of the FBI.
Last night it was confirmed that he was the former FBI Deputy Director, Mark Felt.
Mr Felt is now 91 years old and living in retirement in California.
Watergate is a sprawling complex of concrete offices and apartments on the banks of the Potomac in Washington. On a hot June night in 1972 five men were arrested there, having broken into the offices of the Democratic National Committee.
That petty crime became more significant when it was discovered the men had been in the process of bugging the party offices, with that year's Presidential election campaign in full swing.
It led to a series of revelations that would culminate in the resignation of US President Richard Nixon two years later.
Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein were the reporters at the Washington Post who broke the bulk of the story. They had refused for decades to reveal the name of the source, whom they had nicknamed 'Deep Throat'. Their book 'All the President's Men' brought the name to a worldwide public.
Yesterday Vanity Fair magazine revealed that the then Deputy Director at the FBI, Mark Felt, was Deep Throat. Mr Felt had admitted his role to his family and wanted it to be made public.
Late last night the Washington Post issued a statement confirming that he was its source, thus ending a 30-year-old mystery.
