Talk:Daniel Ellsberg

No "Pumpkin Papers" connection

 * These documents, completed in 1968, later became known collectively as the "Pentagon Papers" (named after the "Pumpkin Papers" of the Hiss-Chambers Case).[8]

I've been unable to find any evidence supporting the parenthetical assertion. Yes, both were leaks of secrets, and both came to be referred to as "Papers"—but that shared common English word is where the similarity seems to end. (The makes no reference to Pumpkin.) I haven't presumed to remove the statement, but am drawing it to your attention in case I've overlooked anything. – AndyFielding (talk) 10:32, 2 May 2023 (UTC)


 * The same unsourced claim appears in the Pumpkin Papers article (but not the Pentagon Papers article). Will try to find support for this, but it seems a bit questionable to me. Suriname0 (talk) 14:58, 3 May 2023 (UTC)


 * In a PBS News Hour interview (transcript, jump to 3:20), historian Michael Beschloss makes this claim, but very vaguely. Suriname0 (talk) 15:02, 3 May 2023 (UTC) Suriname0 (talk) 15:02, 3 May 2023 (UTC)

Citation needed
Disclosure: I have a COI, I work for an organization that Ellsberg co-founded and sits on the board of.

For the sentence that is currently marked with a citation needed tag: "In September 2015 Ellsberg and 27 other members..." (also needs a comma after 2015), it can be cited to this story by Andy Worthington. Legoktm (talk) 23:31, 25 May 2023 (UTC)
 * ✅, although it's in the gray area of WP:BLPSPS with respect to organizational statements. --  Tamzin  [ cetacean needed ] (she&#124;they&#124;xe) 04:45, 26 May 2023 (UTC)

In the "RAND Corporation and PhD" section, "...command and control of nuclear weapons" can be cited to and. "Choquet expected utility" can be cited to, which I found via the Choquet article. Him spending two years in Vietnam can be cited to the NYT obit, which says "As American involvement in Vietnam deepened, he went to Saigon in 1965 to evaluate civilian pacification programs. He joined Maj. Gen. Edward G. Lansdale, the counterinsurgency expert, and for 18 months accompanied combat patrols into the jungles and villages." Legoktm (talk) 19:08, 18 June 2023 (UTC)

In the "Disaffection with Vietnam War" section, the first quote starting with "And he said this very calmly..." can be cited to pg 102 of "The Right Words at the Right Time". The second quote about Randy Kehler can be cited to pg 103 of the same book. Legoktm (talk) 19:21, 18 June 2023 (UTC)


 * Coincidentally, I had just provided these exact cites, without having first seen your suggestion! Along with a few other minor stylistic fixes and one correction (War Resisters International, rather than War Resisters League (the WRI's US affiliate) as the sponsor of the August 1969 Haverford College conference where Ellsberg heard Kehler speak). PDGPA (talk) 19:30, 18 June 2023 (UTC)

In the "Release and publication" subsection, the sentence about Mike Gravel can be cited to and, the former of which says, "An intermediary, Washington Post editor Ben Bagdikian, passed the papers to Gravel during a clandestine midnight meeting outside the Mayflower Hotel in downtown Washington, D.C. Gravel smuggled the papers into his Senate office and, after being fitted with a colostomy bag, prepared to read the entirety on the Senate floor." Legoktm (talk) 19:26, 18 June 2023 (UTC)

In the section "Fielding break-in", the sentence beginning with "The break-in was not known to Ellsberg..." can be cited to, which says "The break-in was revealed only after a nine-month recess in the trial, calculated by the White House to keep Ellsberg off the witness stand and out of the news until after the presidential election.“The first time I found out about the break-in,” Ellsberg said, “was when government prosecutors revealed it to the judge, and he told my lawyers." Legoktm (talk) 19:36, 18 June 2023 (UTC)

In the section "Trial and dismissal", Egil Krogh and Charles Colson pleading can be cited to, found via Charles Colson. Legoktm (talk) 19:39, 18 June 2023 (UTC)

In the subsection "Halperin case", that it was revealed during the trial can be cited to. The rest of that sentence can be cited to, except for the part that regarding "to J. Edgar Hoover". I would suggest removing that part, and just stating it was at the request of Kissinger. Both cites are from Morton Halperin. Legoktm (talk) 19:45, 18 June 2023 (UTC)

In the section "Activism and views", the part about Papers on the War can be cited to. Presumably this book should also be added to the "Books" section. Legoktm (talk) 19:50, 18 June 2023 (UTC)


 * I've added this book the "Books" section, and added it as a citation. Robertiton2 (talk) 01:17, 20 June 2023 (UTC)