Overview

Anthony Joseph Russo Jr. was an American political activist and RAND Corporation analyst who helped Daniel Ellsberg photocopy the Pentagon Papers; the classified 7;000-page Department of Defense study that revealed systematic government deception about the Vietnam War. Russo had become radicalized against the war after spending two years in Vietnam for RAND from 1966 to 1968; where he witnessed firsthand the gap between official claims of progress and the reality on the ground. When Ellsberg decided to leak the documents in 1969; it was Russo who provided access to a Xerox machine at the advertising agency of one of his acquaintances; and the two men spent months secretly copying the massive study. Russo was indicted alongside Ellsberg in 1971 under the Espionage Act and faced up to 35 years in prison. He spent 47 days in jail for contempt of court when he refused to testify before a grand jury about the leak. The case against both men was dismissed in 1973 after it was revealed that the Nixon administration had authorized the "Plumbers" burglary of Ellsberg's psychiatrist's office and had illegally wiretapped Ellsberg. Russo remained an activist and journalist until his death in 2008.

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Related Investigations (1)

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Sources & Documentation

1 documented sources from official records, investigations, and reports