From the archives: Daniel Ellsberg, Pentagon Papers leaker, turns himself in to authorities in 1971 — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:00[Music]
2. 0:00in Boston Dr Daniel Ellsberg the man
3. 0:03named as the source of the Pentagon copy
4. 0:05that appeared in the New York Times
5. 0:07turned himself in today to Federal
6. 0:09authorities David culhane reports
7. 0:12even if the FBI had wanted to arrest him
8. 0:15outside the courthouse this morning they
9. 0:16probably couldn't have done it Ellsberg
10. 0:18was walled off by a mob of newsmen and
11. 0:21supporters as he admitted that he was
12. 0:23indeed the man who brought the Pentagon
13. 0:25papers to the press and Congressional
14. 0:27leaders in the fall of 1969
15. 0:30I took the responsibility
16. 0:34on my own initiative
17. 0:36of delivering to the chairman of the
18. 0:39Foreign Relations Committee of the U.S
19. 0:41Senate oh why
20. 0:43the information contained in the
21. 0:46so-called Pentagon Papers
22. 0:49including the several studies on
23. 0:51negotiations
24. 0:53which have not been given to any
25. 0:55newspaper
26. 1:01release that information to the American
27. 1:03public through the newspapers
28. 1:06I have now done so I could no longer
29. 1:09cooperate in concealing this information
30. 1:11from the American public eye
31. 1:14I did this
32. 1:16clearly at my own Jeopardy and I am
33. 1:20prepared to answer to all the
34. 1:22consequences of these decisions that
35. 1:25includes the personal consequences to me
36. 1:27and my family
37. 1:29and whatever these may be hey wait a
38. 1:32minute after all be more serious than
39. 1:36the ones that I and millions of other
40. 1:38Americans have risked before this in the
41. 1:41service of our countries
42. 1:50Ellsberg was tense but composed his
43. 1:53attorneys protested the government
44. 1:54request for one hundred thousand dollars
45. 1:56bail Ellsberg himself assured the court
46. 1:59he would appear whenever and wherever
47. 2:00asked the court chose to believe him in
48. 2:03effect he did not have to pay bail he
49. 2:05was released to prepare his defense
50. 2:07against charges of Espionage David
51. 2:09culhane CBS News Boston
52. 2:12later today in Los Angeles Federal grand
53. 2:15jury returned an indictment against
54. 2:16Ellsberg is charged with unauthorized
55. 2:19possession of government documents and
56. 2:21theft of government property
57. 2:26with a lot of attendance pump the much
58. 2:29discussed and apparently widely read but
59. 2:31still a classified Pentagon documents
60. 2:33were turned over to Congress today in
61. 2:35Bruce Morton reports
62. 2:37the Pentagon papers drama changed
63. 2:39abruptly into the Pentagon papers media
64. 2:42freakout and cameraman's forests as the
65. 2:44documents arrived at the Senate escorted
66. 2:46by two army men met by Capitol Police
67. 2:48and a horde of cameras like dirty books
68. 2:50the papers came in plain brown paper
69. 2:52wrappers though with top secret labels
70. 2:54cameras clicked and word and the
71. 2:56procession reached Senate President Alan
72. 2:58allender's office for more cameras
73. 2:59waited a lot of people yelled stage
74. 3:02directions and ellender looking like the
75. 3:04man who held the winning ticket at a
76. 3:05charity fundraiser unwrapped his
77. 3:07unlikely door prize everybody laughed a
78. 3:10lot Senate leaders Hugh Scott and Mike
79. 3:12Mansfield hovered shyly in the
80. 3:14background ellender explained that only
81. 3:16Senators could read the papers but that
82. 3:18he at least wouldn't have time to the
83. 3:20army men kept their cool giving
84. 3:21reporters only name rank and hometown
85. 3:24he won't even touch him
86. 3:27he said it says top secret information
87. 3:30cover sheet now where is Mr Ellsberg
88. 3:35I hope he's in jail
89. 3:40in a safe place and this safe was uh
90. 3:44examined by me as well as by the uh
91. 3:47intelligence and the satisfied 100 men
92. 3:50who make their living living by talking
93. 3:52you know politicians these are going to
94. 3:53stay secret very well up here well if
95. 3:56I'm the judge from past experience the
96. 3:58answer is no
97. 4:00the papers went to the Senate
98. 4:02secretary's office to be locked in a
99. 4:04safe two senators looked at them this
100. 4:06afternoon they can read them but not
101. 4:07take notes Bruce Morton CBS News Capitol
102. 4:10Hill