Haldeman Tells Nixon How They Know Mark Felt is Deep Throat

Introduction and transcript are taken from Stanley Kutler's Abuse of Power.

Audio file is at the following URL, and this fragment is at 26:32-28:36:
http://www.nixonlibrary.gov/forresearchers/find/tapes/tape370/370-009a.mp3

Transcript with audio is on youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKnWNnwlIio

OCTOBER 19, 1972: THE PRESIDENT AND HALDEMAN, 1:48-4:09 P.M.,
EXECUTIVE OFFICE BUILDING

Haldeman informs the President that Mark Felt, Number Two in the FBI hierarcy, is the source of leaks. Haldeman refuses to tell the President the source of his information.

NIXON
What's the conveyor belt for Felt?

HALDEMAN
The <i>Post</i>.

NIXON
How did we stumble on (unintelligible)?

HALDEMAN
Through an official in a publication who knows where a reporter in the publication is getting his stuff. In other words, we learned it from the reporter.

NIXON
Why is he telling us?

HALDEMAN
Because he has stronger ties here than he does to the publication.

NIXON
[<i>Time</i> correspondent Jerrold L.] Schecter?

HALDEMAN
No. It's a legal guy.

NIXON
The <i>Post</i>?

HALDEMAN
A legal guy.

NIXON
Great.

HALDEMAN
And actually, I believe he's a former Justice Department man or a former FBI man.

NIXON
Who made the contact?

HALDEMAN
He made the contact here, with a guy at the Justice Department.

NIXON
Why did he do it?

HALDEMAN
Because he knows what the problem is. He is deeply concerned about it. He is a former FBI man. He knows that the FBI is leaking to a reporter in his publication...So he has told the guy at Justice, who he knows, what the route is. He said, "I think you ought to know this; I don't know what you can do about it." The guy at Justice told John Dean. He has not told anybody else, including Kleindienst or Pat Gray, because he's afraid that either of them might react in such a way as we do more harm than good.

NIXON
So say nothing, say nothing.