Daniel Ellsberg (1931 - )

Tue Apr 07, 1931

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Image: Daniel Ellsberg, co-defendant in the Pentagon Papers case, talks to media outside the Federal Building in Los Angeles on April 28th, 1973. Photo credit Wally Fong, AP [nbcnews.com]

Daniel Ellsberg, born on this day in 1931, is an American economist and former U.S. military analyst known for leaking the Pentagon Papers, which detailed secret bombing campaigns of Cambodia and Laos and other lies by the Johnson Administration.

The Pentagon Papers were a top-secret Pentagon study of the U.S. government decision-making in relation to the Vietnam War. Ellsberg leaked these documents in 1971, while employed by the RAND Corporation, causing a national political controversy.

On January 3rd, 1973, Ellsberg was charged under the Espionage Act of 1917, along with other charges of theft and conspiracy, carrying a total maximum sentence of 115 years. Due to government misconduct and illegal evidence-gathering, he was dismissed of all charges on May 11th, 1973.

  • wizardbeard@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
    6·
    6 days ago

    Unfortunately, according to his Wikipedia article, he died of cancer in 2023, so you may want to add the death year in the first heading.