Follow the money

Follow the money is a catchphrase popularized by the 1976 drama-documentary motion picture All The President's Men, which suggests a money trail or corruption scheme within high (often political) office. For the film, screenwriter William Goldman attributed the phrase to Deep Throat, the informant who took part in revealing the Watergate Scandal. However, the phrase is neither mentioned in the non-fiction book that preceded the film, nor any documentation of the scandal.

The phrase Follow the money was mentioned by Henry Peterson at the 1974 Senate Judiciary Committee hearings as Earl J. Silbert was nominated to U.S. Attorney. A 1975 book by Clive Borrell and Brian Cashinella, Crime in Britain Today, also uses the phrase.

Since the 1970s, Follow the money has been used several times in investigative journalism and political debate. One example is Follow the Money, a series of CBS reports.

See also

• Cui bono, a Latin phrase meaning "To whose benefit?", suggesting a hidden motive

References

• Fred Shapiro on the phrase's origin