FSOT Pro

Answer: A - Daniel Ellsberg was the government employee who acquired copies of the Pentagon Papers and released them to the media. The Pentagon Papers were the government's 1971 internal and classified study on the history of American involvement in Vietnam. The report stated that the Johnson administration systematically lied to the American people and Congress throughout the duration of Johnson's term. After a prolonged, methodical endeavor to photocopy thousands of pages, Ellsberg handed them over to a reporter for The New York Times. The publication proceeded to print the content in excerpts. Ellsberg was eventually caught and tried for accessing and distributing classified material. He was convicted but the verdict was later overturned.