Pentagon Papers leaker Daniel Ellsberg dies at 92.

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Source: Slate
Pentagon Papers leaker Daniel Ellsberg dies at 92.
Photo: Slate
TL;DR

Daniel Ellsberg, the whistleblower who leaked the Pentagon Papers, a top-secret history of the Vietnam War, has died at the age of 92. Ellsberg, a former defense analyst at the RAND Corporation, pilfered and photocopied the 7,000-page study of the war, which contained internal documents showing that senior officials knew the war was a hopeless mistake very early on but kept sending soldiers to fight, kill, and die anyway. The leak opened up a critical public dialogue about U.S. foreign policy, triggered a Supreme Court ruling that broadened the rights of free speech, inspired newspapers to investigate office-holders more bravely, and indirectly terminated Nixon’s presidency.

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