Remember: Deep Throat denied being Deep Throat

Loads of Trump administration officials have denied writing an anonymous op-ed in The New York Times that described an internal "resistance" in the White House.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, for example, said that it is "laughable" to think he could be the author. Spoken like a possible suspect, right? In light of the White House "witch hunt" to determine who wrote the op-ed, a vintage Wall Street Journal headline resurfaced Thursday as readers remembered a similarly mysterious source: Deep Throat.

"If you drink scotch, smoke, and read, maybe you're 'Deep Throat,'" the Journal wrote. "Almost anyone can qualify as capital tries to guess Watergate story source." Deep Throat was the name of the source who offered key information to journalists Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein as they investigated the Watergate scandal. Deep Throat ultimately turned out to be FBI Associate Director Mark Felt — but in June 1974, Felt denied that he was the source.

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"Felt says he isn't now, nor has he ever been, Deep Throat," reads the article. "Of course, says the former acting associate director of the FBI, if he really were Deep Throat, you'd hardly expect him to admit it, now would you? Not that he is, Mr. Felt quickly adds."

The article points out that Felt, and others, aren't likely to "just blurt out" that they are responsible for bringing an administration "to its knees." So simply asking officials whether they authored the piece may not lead to the truth — and maybe Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) had the right idea in taking more drastic measures.