Ellsberg Espionage Charges Dropped (1973)

Fri May 11, 1973

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Image: Daniel Ellsberg, co-defendant in the Pentagon Papers case, talks to media outside the Federal Building in Los Angeles on April 28th, 1973. Photo credit Wally Fong, AP [nbcnews.com]

On this day in 1973, the charges of espionage, theft, and conspiracy levied against Daniel Ellsberg, the whistleblower responsible for leaking the Pentagon Papers, were dropped due to state misconduct, including the FBI tapping his phone.

Daniel Ellsberg is an American economist, activist and former United States military analyst who, while employed by the RAND Corporation, caused 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.

On January 3rd, 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 all charges against Daniel Ellsberg were dropped on May 11th, 1973. This misconduct included, but was not limited to, White House operatives burglarizing the office of Ellsberg’s psychiatrist and the FBI secretly tapping his phone.