"No, I have to do this my way. You tell me what you know, and I'll confirm. I'll keep you in the right direction if I can, but that's all. Just...follow the money."
Deep Throat refuses to spell out explicitly the corruption in the Nixon administration. He wants Woodward to do the investigating for himself. He does, however, give him a clue that will help him find the answers: follow the money.
"You tell your publisher, tell Katie Graham she's gonna get her tit caught in a big wringer if that's published."
The former Attorney General of the United States and head of the Committee to reelect the president here not only insults publisher Kay Graham, but he laces it with a potential threat when he is confronted with accusations of wrong-doing in association with Watergate.
"I don't mind what you did; I mind how you did it."
Woodward chastises Bernstein for taking a story off of his desk and rewriting as his own. It's the beginning of an understanding between the two reporters who have, up until this point, been at odds with each other.
“I have a wife and a family and a dog and a cat.”
Clawson’s repeated explanation of just how middle-American he is and how he could not possibly be guilty of any crimes becomes one of the highlights of comic relief inserted into the increasingly tense narrative thrust of the story.
"Look, there are two thousand reporters in this town, are there five on Watergate? When did the Washington Post suddenly get the monopoly on wisdom? Why would the republicans do it? McGovern's self-destructed just like Humphries, Muskie, the bunch of them. I don't believe this story. It doesn't make sense."
The first major seeds of doubt are planted into the Post's Watergate investigation at a meeting of the editors, where the lack of logical sense it makes for an administration poised for a landslide to be committing these crimes that would only seem to ensure an already predictable victory. This becomes the question Woodward and Bernstein begin to ask.
The White House has had no involvement whatsoever in this particular incident.
Richard Nixon's false claim did not save him from eventually getting caught in his lie, due in no small part to the efforts of the reporters whose investigative journalism exposed this lie for what it was.
I'm tired of your chickenshit games. I don't want hints, I want what you know!
Woodward, after playing the leaking game on Deep Throat's terms, ultimately explodes as the stakes are higher than ever. He demands to know the truth and the context of what exactly they are investigating. To his surprise, Deep Throat relents.
In my day, it was simply called the double cross. I believe the CIA refers to it as Mindfuck. In our context, it simply means infiltration of the Democrats.
Deep Throat explains "rat-fucking" in a concise way: simply infiltrate and sabotage the Democrats, at this time the opposition to the Nixon administration.
If you guys...if you guys could just get John Mitchell...that would be beautiful.
For the first time admitting guilt on behalf of CREEP, she even goes a step further, advocating and endorsing "getting" John Mitchell, whose methods she does not support.
Howard, they're hungry. You remember when you were hungry?
Harry advocates for Woodward and Bernstein to Howard, emphasizing the spark in young journalists and their willingness to go to any lengths to pursue a story. This comes to pass; through their perseverance, Woodward and Bernstein prove their worth.
