"Follow the money" is a
catchphrase
A catchphrase (alternatively spelled catch phrase) is a phrase or expression recognized by its repeated utterance. Such phrases often originate in popular culture and in the arts, and typically spread through word of mouth and a variety of mass ...
popularized by the 1976
docudrama
Docudrama (or documentary drama) is a genre of television and film, which features dramatized re-enactments of actual events. It is described as a hybrid of documentary and drama and "a fact-based representation of real event".
Docudramas typic ...
film ''
All the President's Men
''All the President's Men'' is a 1974 non-fiction book by Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, two of the journalists who investigated the June 1972 break-in at the Watergate Office Building and the resultant political scandal for ''The Washingto ...
'', which suggests
political corruption
Political corruption is the use of powers by government officials or their network contacts for illegitimate private gain.
Forms of corruption vary, but can include bribery, lobbying, extortion, cronyism, nepotism, parochialism, patronage, in ...
can be brought to light by examining money transfers between parties.
Origin
For the film, screenwriter
William Goldman
William Goldman (August 12, 1931 – November 16, 2018) was an American novelist, playwright, and screenwriter. He first came to prominence in the 1950s as a novelist before turning to screenwriting. He won Academy Awards for his screenplays '' ...
attributed the phrase to
Deep Throat, the informant who took part in revealing the
Watergate scandal
The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States involving the administration of President Richard Nixon from 1972 to 1974 that led to Nixon's resignation. The scandal stemmed from the Nixon administration's continual ...
. However, the phrase is mentioned neither in the
non-fiction book that preceded the film nor in any documentation of the scandal. The book has the phrase "The key was the secret campaign cash, and it should all be traced," which author
Bob Woodward
Robert Upshur Woodward (born March 26, 1943) is an American investigative journalist. He started working for ''The Washington Post'' as a reporter in 1971 and now holds the title of associate editor.
While a young reporter for ''The Washingto ...
says to Senator
Sam Ervin
Samuel James Ervin Jr. (September 27, 1896April 23, 1985) was an American politician. A Southern Democrats, Democrat, he served as a United States Senate, U.S. Senator from North Carolina from 1954 to 1974. A native of Morganton, North Carolina, ...
.
History
The phrase ''Follow the money'' was mentioned by
Henry E. Peterson
Henry E. Petersen (January 1, 1921 – May 29, 1991) was an attorney and United States federal government official. He served as United States Assistant Attorney General, Assistant U.S. Attorney General during the Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford a ...
at the 1974
Senate Judiciary Committee
The United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, informally the Senate Judiciary Committee, is a standing committee of 22 U.S. senators whose role is to oversee the Department of Justice (DOJ), consider executive and judicial nominations, a ...
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
Investigative journalism is a form of journalism in which reporters deeply investigate a single topic of interest, such as serious crimes, political corruption, or corporate wrongdoing. An investigative journalist may spend months or years rese ...
and
political debate. One example is ''Follow the Money'', a series of CBS reports.
Donald Trump
In September 2016, the
Trump campaign used the phrase to criticise
Hillary Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...
and the
Clinton Foundation
The Clinton Foundation (founded in 2001 as the William J. Clinton Presidential Foundation, and renamed in 2013 as the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation) is a nonprofit organization under section 501(c)(3) of the U.S. tax code. It was e ...
, a humanitarian aid non-profit; for several events that took place, including a
uranium deal approved by the US State Department under Clinton after her charitable foundation received large donations from people with stakes in the deal; Clinton's relationship with Irish telecom billionaire
Denis O'Brien
Denis O'Brien (born 19 April 1958) is an Irish billionaire businessman, and the founder and owner of Digicel. He was listed among the World's Top 200 Billionaires in 2015 and was Ireland's richest native-born citizen for a period of several ye ...
; and a
2009 deal over the disclosing of the identities of American account-holders, which the State Department concluded with the Swiss bank
UBS
UBS Group AG is a multinational Investment banking, investment bank and financial services company founded and based in Switzerland. Co-headquartered in the cities of Zürich and Basel, it maintains a presence in all major financial centres ...
, a Clinton Foundation donor.
In February 2017,
Carl Bernstein
Carl Milton Bernstein ( ; born February 14, 1944) is an American investigative journalist and author. While a young reporter for ''The Washington Post'' in 1972, Bernstein was teamed up with Bob Woodward, and the two did much of the original new ...
, who with Woodward exposed the Watergate scandal, used the phrase to encourage reporters to discover
President Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...
's potential conflicts of interest. The
Trump Foundation
The Donald J. Trump Foundation was a New York-based tax-exempt private foundation formed in 1988 by Donald Trump and dissolved by court order in 2019 after various legal violations came to light.
The foundation was created to receive royalties ...
was later found guilty of illegal campaign contributions and other financial crimes. In November 2019, Trump was ordered to pay a $2 million settlement for misusing the foundation for his business and political purposes.
See also
*
Cui bono
''Cui bono?'' (), in English "to whom is it a benefit?", is a Latin phrase about identifying crime suspects. It expresses the view that crimes are often committed to benefit their perpetrators, especially financially.
Usage
The phrase is a dou ...
, a Latin phrase meaning "To whose benefit?", suggesting a hidden motive.
*
Cherchez la femme
''Cherchez la femme'' () is a French phrase which literally means 'look for the woman'. It is a cliche in detective fiction, used to suggest that a mystery can be resolved by identifying a femme fatale or female love interest.
Origin of the p ...
, a French phrase taking women to be the chief motive in crimes.
*
Economic antisemitism
Economic antisemitism is antisemitism that uses stereotypes of Jews, stereotypes and antisemitic canard, canards that are based on negative perceptions or assertions of the economic status, occupations or economic behaviour of Jews, at times leadi ...
*
OpenSecrets
OpenSecrets is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that tracks data on campaign finance and lobbying. It was created from a merger of the Center for Responsive Politics (CRP) and the National Institute on Money in Politics (NIMP). ...
References
External links
Fred Shapiro on the phrase's originat ''
Freakonomics
''Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything'' is the debut non-fiction book by University of Chicago economist Steven Levitt and ''New York Times'' journalist Stephen J. Dubner. Published on April 12, 2005, by Will ...
''
1976 neologisms
Catchphrases
Finance in the United States
Political funding
Political corruption
Quotations from film
Watergate scandal
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