Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg dies at 92

Whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg, who leaked the Pentagon Papers to different news outlets, passed away at 92, his family confirmed in a statement. 

Ellsberg announced a few months ago that he was diagnosed with "inoperable pancreatic cancer."

"I'm sorry to report to you that my doctors have given me three to six months to live," he wrote on Twitter.

Ellsberg was best known for exposing government deceptions about the Vietnam War by leaking the Pentagon Papers to prominent outlets such as The New York Times and The Washington Post. 

Ellsberg, along with colleague Anthony Russo, secretly photocopied a study from the Defense Department that revealed that the Vietnam War could not be won.

They were both charged with espionage, theft and conspiracy for the leak, but a judge dismissed the case in 1973, ruling that the government was guilty of misconduct.

Then-President Richard Nixon tried to stop the publication of the papers, but the Supreme Court sided with the newspapers in 1971 on the basis of free speech. 

Ellsberg had served as a Marine in the 1950s and as an adviser to Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara in the 1960s.