Truth and Consequence

7 Apr 1931 – 16 June 2023

Daniel Ellsberg (born April 7, 1931) is an American economist, activist and former United States military analyst who, while employed by the RAND Corporation, precipitated a national political controversy in 1971 when he released the *Pentagon Papers*, a top-secret Pentagon study of the U.S. government decision-making in relation to the Vietnam War, to *The New York Times*, the *Washington Post* and other newspapers. On January 3, 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 governmental misconduct and illegal evidence-gathering, and the defense by Leonard Boudin and Harv…