People in power have always hated whistleblowers. Why? It's not just for the obvious direct reason. More important in the LONG RUN is that the great majority of the serious abuse of position problems (many of which are not attributed to whistleblowers) were originally the result of "tipsters" (aka "whistleblowers"). So, those with power dread whistleblowers and seek to weaken the system that protects whistleblowers. Reagan did a lot for that as there was still a lot of ill will about whisteblowers such as Deep Throat. The gov't had imprisoned reporters before who did not reveal the whistleblowers, but could not do this to Woodward & Berstein because the Washington Post knew of many things that could be reported upon in revenge for forcing the reporters to divulge sources.