In October 1969, a national security official named Daniel Ellsberg began secretly photocopying 7,000 classified Vietnam War documents. He had become increasingly frustrated with the systematic deception of top U.S. leaders who sought to publicly escalate a war that, privately, they knew was unwinnable. In March 1971 he leaked the documents –
How The Government Gained The Upper Hand Against Leakers
We may be entering a post-Pentagon Papers era that shifts the power back to political elites, who seem more emboldened to go after leakers.