Washington. Daniel Ellsberg, the California spy who exposed US involvement in the Vietnam War, has died at his home in Kensington. He was 92 years old. His family gave this information on Saturday.
His family told that he was suffering from pancreatic cancer. Daniels was labeled “the most dangerous man in America” because of the 1971 leak of the Pentagon Papers by a former US military analyst. Ellsberg was born in Chicago on April 7, 1931. He worked for the Defense and State Departments. Indeed, in the past the Nixon administration had led a Supreme Court case in an attempt to block publication in The New York Times but the espionage charges against Ellsberg were dismissed in court. A
Lusberg’s family said in a statement obtained by NPR, “Daniel was a truth-seeker and a patriotic truth-teller, an anti-war activist, a beloved husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather, a dear friend to many, and a great source to countless others.” He was an inspiration. He will be loved and missed by all of us.” The BBC reported that during the 1960s the backlash against whistleblower Daniels began when he advised the White House on nuclear strategy and made Vietnam War assessments for the Department of Defense.
The Pentagon Papers, 7,000 government pages, were released, exposing the deception of several US presidents. Alan Rusbridger, former editor-in-chief of The Guardian newspaper, told the BBC that the newspapers contradicted the government’s public statements on the war and that the revelations they made helped end the conflict and later seeded the downfall of President Richard M. Nixon. Sow
The Pentagon Papers created a First Amendment conflict between the Nixon administration and The New York Times, which first published stories based on the papers. Cast as an act of espionage by government officials, which compromised national security. America’s upper house ruled in favor of freedom of the press. Ellsberg was indicted in 1971 in federal court in Los Angeles on charges of theft, espionage, conspiracy and other counts. But before the jury could reach a verdict, the judge dismissed the case, citing serious government misconduct, including illegal wiretapping.
Judge said that in the middle of the case he was offered the job of FBI director to one of President Nixon’s top aides. According to Rusbridger, recent whistleblowers such as Julian Assange and Edward Snowden were “molded” by Ellsberg. He told the BBC that the Pentagon Papers case prompted him to think “who defines the national interest: is it the current government or people with a conscience like Daniel Ellsberg?” Years after the Pentagon Papers were leaked, Ellsberg continued his quest to hold the government accountable.
During an interview in December 2022, he told BBC Hardtalk that he was the secret “back-up” for the WikiLeaks document leaks. He has reflected on the Pentagon Papers and whistleblowers extensively in recent months. In emails obtained by the Washington Post in March 2023, Ellsberg wrote, “When I copied the Pentagon Papers in 1969, I had every reason to think that I would spend the rest of my life behind bars. It was a fate that I’ll happily do it.”
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