Pentagon Papers

Pentagon Papers, 2.5-million-word, top-secret history of U.S. involvement in Indochina from 1945 to 1968, compiled by order of Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara, and leaked by Daniel Ellsberg, a former government researcher, to the New York Times. A court order secured by the Justice Department barring publication was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court in June 1971. Later attempts to prosecute Ellsberg were thrown out of court because evidence against him was obtained by wiretaps and other illegal means (May 1973).