 In February 2005 reports surfaced that Woodward had prepared Deep Throat's obituary because he was near death.Chief Justice William Rehnquist was battling cancer at the time (he would die in September 2005), and there was speculation that Rehnquist might have been Deep Throat.Rehnquist was Assistant Attorney General of the Office of Legal Counsel, from 1969 to 1971, and then served on the Supreme Court until his death in 2005.