Pentagon Papers leaker Daniel Ellsberg dead at 92

Pentagon Papers leaker Daniel Ellsberg dead at 92 from pancreatic cancer: Military analyst who leaked top secret Vietnam War information to the fury of the Nixon administration passes away in his California home

• Ellsberg leaked a series of secret papers detailing the extent of U.S. involvement in Vietnam
• He was once dubbed ‘the most dangerous man in America’
• In March, doctors gave him just three to six months to live when he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer 

Pentagon Papers leaker Daniel Ellsberg, the anti-war activist who revealed secret details of U.S. strategy in the Vietnam War, had died at the age of 92. 

His family said that he passed away at his home in Kensington, California, after a battle with pancreatic cancer.

‘Daniel was a seeker of truth and a patriotic truth-teller, an antiwar activist, a beloved husband, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather, a dear friend to many, and an inspiration to countless more. He will be dearly missed by all of us,’ they said in a statement. 

A one-time Vietnam hawk, Ellsberg later become a prominent anti-war activist

In March, Ellsberg had said that he had been given between three and six months to live by doctors. 

The ex-military analyst was once dubbed ‘the most dangerous man in America’ after he revealed in 1971 how top U.S. officials had misled the public over the conflict.

A one-time hawk on Vietnam, Ellsberg disclosed Pentagon officials had secretly been putting together a 7,000-page report.

The secret memo detailed a level of U.S. involvement in Vietnam from 1945 through 1967 that was not yet public.

‘I felt that as an American citizen, as a responsible citizen, I could no longer cooperate in concealing this information from the American public,’ Ellsberg said at the time. ‘I did this clearly at my own jeopardy and I am prepared to answer to all the consequences of this decision.’ 

He would say that he regretted not leaking the papers sooner

Ellsberg saw the espionage charges brought against him tossed out by a judge after he leaked secret memos to the U.S. media 

Richard Nixon, the president at the time, went all the way to the Supreme Court to try and gag the New York Times and prevent any articles based on the leak being published. 

The Times never said who leaked the papers but the FBI quickly figured it out. Ellsberg hid for about two weeks before surrendering in Boston.

He was charged in a federal court in Los Angeles in 1971 with theft, espionage, conspiracy and other counts.

But the judge threw out the case after it emerged the government had used illegal wiretapping to collect evidence.

Ellsberg would then become a vocal critic of the government excesses and U.S. military interventions abroad

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