Chotiner was involved in Nixon's successful 1968 presidential bid, but kept out of the public eye as special assistant to Nixon campaign manager John Mitchell. He served as liaison between the campaign and 14 Republican state organizations. He was able to place a "mole" on the Humphrey campaign press plane; the agent sent back almost daily reports on off-the-record or unreported comments made by the Democratic candidate and his staff, and evaluations of their morale. Kevin Phillips said of Nixon's 1968 presidential run,