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With recent news of Wikileaks and the case pending, I ran across this interview with a whistleblower from another time - Daniel Ellsberg and the now-famous Pentagon Papers. Much of the outrage and controversy surrounding Ellsberg at the time had to do with his releasing sensitive documents regarding secret meetings over the Vietnam War. How that was condemned by some to be a horrible betrayal of National Security, but it was supported by others as a means of ending an unjust and unjustifiable war. Release of the papers, and their subsequent printing in the New York Times focused attention on how corrupt our policy was and how blatant our government lied in order to maintain the status quo, at the expense of thousands of American lives.

It was thought by many to be the catalyst in ending the war sooner and, during the time of this interview (July 30, 1972) Ellsberg was in the midst of a trial, the conviction would have been a sentence of some 115 years.

Here is the complete appearance of Daniel Ellsberg, as interviewed by William F. Buckley on Buckley's Firing Line Program from July 30, 1972

The controversy surrounding the Pentagon Papers, and their release to the public was unprecedented in history. Putting it in contemporary perspective, it most closely rivaled that of Wikileaks and the release of sensitive and potentially embarrassing government documents to the public.

The Pentagon Papers basically exposed (or confirmed) a vast series of coverups, deceits and falsehoods during the Vietnam War. The papers were damning to our Foreign Policy, our Military complex and the White House.

Key to the release of those papers was a former Pentagon Official, Daniel Ellsberg, who presented them to The New York Times, where excerpts were published. The resulting storm brought under fire and repercussions, not only Ellsberg and The New York Times, but the whole question of censorship and National Security and the Public's right to know, especially where it concerned the lives of so many of its citizens.

In the end, The Supreme Court sided with Ellsberg and The New York Times. and this broadcast, aired shortly after the decision was given, attempts to cover those bases.

Here is the special program, originally aired on June 30, 1971 from NBC News "The Supreme Court And The Pentagon Papers"