the vietnam war known as the pentagon papers. the name has come out as the possible source documents, that of daniel ellsberg. reporter: the pentagon paper showed the government mismanaged the vietnam war and lied about it. ellsberg was charged under the espionage act of 1917 with theft and conspiracy. but the charges were later dropped due to government misconduct. ellsberg s disclosures as a whistle blower are credited with helping end the war. i couldn t carele less about the punk. i wanted to discredit that kind of activity. reporter: decades later in 2013, former u.s. army soldier chelsea manning was convicted after sharing nearly 750,000 military and diplomatic documents with wikileaks related to the wars in iraq and afghanistan. i stopped seeing just statistics and information and i started seeing people. reporter: included in the leaked material, a video of iraqi civilians and journalists
they would meet at that time inside an underground parking garage. no, i m not deep throat. reporter: in fact, he was. the mystery ended in 2005 when mark felt, the number two in command at the fbi in the early 70s revealed he was deep throat. also in the 1970s, military analyst daniel ellsberg earned a rebati reputation as the most dangerous man in america for leaking a top study on the vietnam war known as the pentagon papers. the pentagon papers showed the government mismanaged the vietnam war and lied about it. ellsberg was charged under the espionage act of 1917. ellsberg s disclosures as a whistle-blower are credited with helping end the war. i couldn t care less about
70s revealed he was deep throat. also in the 1970s, military analyst daniel ellsberg earned a reputation as the most dangerous man in america for leaking a top study on the vietnam war known as the pentagon papers. the pentagon papers showed the government mismanaged the vietnam war and lied about it. ellsberg was charged under the espionage act of 1917. with theft and conspiracy. but the charges were later dropped due to government misconduct. ellsberg s disclosures as a whistle-blower are credited with helping end the war. i couldn t care less about the punk. i wanted to discredit that kind of activity. reporter: decades later in 2013, former u.s. army soldier chelsea manning was convicted after selling sharing 750,000
something you ve been asked before, something you have answered before, but since this is a fresh occasion, we ll ask it again. why not stay in this country and face the music if you believed in the strength of your conviction? this is a great question, brian, and i m glad you asked it. when we say face the music, the question is, well, what song are they playing? i was intentionally charged, as every major whistle-blower in the last decades has been, with a very particular crime. this is a violation of the espionage act of 1917. and this is a law that is explicitly designed to prohibit a meaningful defense in court. i would not have received a fair trial. there would not have been much of a trial at all. i would only have received a
in the strength of your conviction? this is a great question, brian, and i m glad you asked it. when we say face the music, the question is, well, what song are they playing? i was intentionally charged, as every major whistle-blower in the last decades has been, with a very particular crime. this is a violation of the espionage act of 1917. and this is a law that is explicitly designed to prohibit a meaningful defense in court. i would not have received a fair trial. there would not have been much of a trial at all. i would only have received a sentencing. and the question there is, what message does that send, whether you like me or not i could be the best person in the world, i could be the worst what