Daniel Ellsberg (bio here), who leaked the Pentagon Papers (described here) to the press, died on June 16, 2023, at age 92.
Ellsberg’s name will forever be synonymous with the term “whistleblower.” He may be unfamiliar to younger generations, but he was a hero to the Vietnam generation.
As Huffington Post says, “The Pentagon Papers ― a highly classified study on U.S. conduct in Vietnam that Ellsberg helped work on ― revealed that multiple U.S. presidents had lied to both Congress and the American people about … the Vietnam War. The documents Ellsberg leaked showed that U.S. authorities had long known American forces had no chance of winning in Vietnam.”
What Ellsberg did was illegal, but his motives were unselfish, and it exposed government misconduct and deceit of the highest order. He expected to go to prison, but did not, because of further government misbehavior.
“Ellsberg, who’d been a staunch supporter of military action in Vietnam until he began mingling with anti-war activists in the late 1960s, was charged under the Espionage Act and faced a potential 115 years behind bars for his actions. But due to governmental misconduct and illegal evidence-gathering in his case, he evaded punishment” (read details here). This included illegal wiretapping, burglarizing Ellsberg’s psychiatrist’s office, and White House efforts to influence the judge in his case.
Ellsberg’s career raises questions about whether disclosing government secrets is ever justified, and if so, for what reasons and in what circumstances. The question to ask here is whether it strengthens democracy, or weakens our nation. In Ellsberg’s case, it’s obvious his motives were sincere, and his actions were directed against wrongdoing by political leaders harmful to the public interest.
But the law is the law. Should the black letter of the law be equally enforced against everyone who discloses or mishandles classified information, or should courts — and public opinion — consider the accused’s motivations, and the impact of his actions?
My position is always that we’re not robots, and God gave us brains to reason and exercise judgment with. Ellsberg probably will never have a ship or government building named after him, but other people have done worse things than reveal the truth about a bungled war.