September 18, 1972: FBI Agent Accuses Post Reporter of Having Illegal Access to FBI Documents

An FBI agent working the Watergate investigation accuses Washington Post reporter Carl Bernstein of having illegal access to the FBI’s “302s,” the raw interview forms compiled by agents after speaking with witnesses and suspects during an investigation. These forms are classified and not available to the public. The information about documents being destroyed by Nixon campaign officials, and about the campaign “slush fund,” could have only come from 302s, the agent says. Bernstein takes the agent’s complaints as a backhanded confirmation of their reporting. But he also knows that 302s are raw, unconfirmed material, filled with every allegation and speculation told to agents, and cannot themselves be used as the source for any sort of news report. [Bernstein and Woodward, 1974, pp. 79-86]