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If someone says, “Hi GOP fundraisers, I’m a journalist, would you, hypothetically, take money from the Chinese and hide it from the auditors?” they’re going to say, “Of course not!”
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If someone says, “Y’know, I think the GOP’s fundraising should be examined. I think they’re taking money from foreigners.” the response will be, “Where’s your proof?”
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So instead the journalists created a scenario where the fundraisers believed they weren’t talking to the press and behaved accordingly. Turns out said behaviour is deplorable.
Woodward and Bernstein got their first tip because Woodward was in the courtroom for the “plumbers’” first appearance and got inconsistent answers to his questions. He also noticed people were there who wouldn’t be (big-wig lawyers for petty thieves). Later they found financial discrepancies and enough lower-level, honest Republicans who weren’t comfortable with the ethics of what was going on that they were willing to talk to journalists.
That took several months. They almost didn’t succeed – remember, the end of the film “All the President’s Men” has them standing on their editor’s front lawn in the middle of the night, all their sources blown, having to start all over again. The eventual outcome is only displayed on telex messages right before the end credits.
Journalists right now don’t have months – they’re investigating a candidate, not an incumbent – and they don’t live in the 1970s world of literal paper trails. It was almost impossible then – it’s much harder now.
