For the film, screenwriter William Goldman attributed the phrase to Deep Throat, the informant who took part in revealing the Watergate scandal.
[1] The book has the phrase "The key was the secret campaign cash, and it should all be traced," which author Bob Woodward says to Senator Sam Ervin.
[2] The phrase Follow the money was mentioned by Henry E. Peterson at the 1974 Senate Judiciary Committee hearings as Earl J. Silbert was nominated to U.S.
[4] In February 2017, Carl Bernstein, who with Woodward exposed the Watergate scandal, used the phrase to encourage reporters to discover President Trump's potential conflicts of interest.
In November 2019, Trump was ordered to pay a $2 million settlement for misusing the foundation for his business and political purposes.