Leaker Of Pentagon Papers, Daniel Ellsberg Dies At 92

Daniel Ellsberg, the whistleblower who leaked the Pentagon Papers and revealed government lies about the Vietnam War, has died at 92, Hillel Italie reported for the Associated Press (AP).

Photo Insert: Ellsberg, whose actions led to a landmark First Amendment ruling by the Supreme Court, had disclosed in February that he was terminally ill with pancreatic cancer.

Ellsberg, whose actions led to a landmark First Amendment ruling by the Supreme Court, had disclosed in February that he was terminally ill with pancreatic cancer. His family announced his death Friday morning in a letter released by a spokeswoman, Julia Pacetti.

Until the early 1970s, when he disclosed that he was the source for reports on the 47-volume, 7,000-page Defense Department study of the US role in Indochina, Ellsberg was a well-placed member of the government-military elite.

He was a Harvard graduate and self-defined “cold warrior” who served as a consultant on Vietnam throughout the 1960s, risked his life on the battlefield, received the highest security clearances, and came to be trusted by officials in Democratic and Republican administrations.

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