The Complex Legacy of Daniel Ellsberg: From Leaking the Pentagon Papers to Michigan Ties and Beatles Connections.

Daniel Ellsberg, the military analyst who leaked the Pentagon Papers in 1971, sought to be prosecuted for mishandling national security secrets under the Espionage Act in his final years. He hoped to challenge the constitutionality of the law as applied to those who leaked government secrets to reporters. Ellsberg wanted to offer the Supreme Court an opportunity to declare the law unconstitutional. He believed that using the act to criminalize classified truth-telling in the public interest should be deemed unconstitutional. The Espionage Act has been on the books since World War I, but it was not until the second half of the 20th century that the government began trying to use it to charge leakers instead of spies.