"Follow the money" is a catchphrase 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'', 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 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 hearings as

Earl J. Silbert Earl Judah Silbert (March 8, 1936 – September 6, 2022) was an American lawyer who served as United States Attorney for the District of Columbia from 1974 to 1979. He was the first prosecutor in the Watergate scandal, alongside two other U.S. ...

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 Political criticism (also referred to as political commentary or political discussion) is criticism that is specific of or relevant to politics, including policies, politicians, political parties, and types of government. See also *Bad Subjects * ...

. One example is ''Follow the Money'', a series of CBS reports.

Donald Trump

In September 2016, the

Trump campaign There have been four presidential campaigns waged by Donald Trump for President of the United States. He has additionally mused about running on several other occasions. Donald Trump presidential campaign may refer to: * Donald Trump 2000 presid ...

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; 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, who with Woodward exposed the Watergate scandal, used the phrase to encourage reporters to discover President Trump's potential conflicts of interest. The Trump Foundation 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.

References

External links

Fred Shapiro on the phrase's origin
at '' Freakonomics'' 1976 neologisms Catchphrases Finance in the United States Political funding Political corruption Quotations from film Watergate scandal {{money-stub