Primary Sources

Passed during World War I, the Espionage Act was President Woodrow Wilson's "firm hand of repression" that he used to silence antiwar voices.

Touted as a law against spies and saboteurs, the Espionage Act has in fact been a tool to control the flow of information and suppress dissent. Over the interceding years, the Espionage Act became a way to retaliate against those who publish "official secrets." Today it is the government's go to weapon against national security whistleblowers and even journalists who uncover abuses of power.

Host Chip Gibbons is joined by human rights attorney Carey Shenkman to learn more about the ignoble history of the Espionage Act and its century of silencing those who dissent on US national security policy.

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Truthtelling can be an act of resistance. Join Defending Rights & Dissent policy director Chip Gibbons as he brings you the stories of whistleblowers and other truthtellers who expose civil liberties and human rights abuses committed under the guise of national security and the attempts to silence them.

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When The New York Times published the Pentagon Papers it sparked one of the greatest battles for press freedom in US history. In an unprecedented move, the Nixon administration sought to bar The New York Times from publishing further. The Times's outside counsel had told them they would not defend them if they chose to publish the top-secret history of the Vietnam War.

But their General Counsel, James Goodale, argued that The New York Times had the right to publish. As Goodale explains to host Chip Gibbons, while the First Amendment is today a cornerstone of press freedom cases, in those days it was a "secret weapon." And one he was prepared to use. 

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Daniel Ellsberg is the most iconic whistleblower in US history. 

On our inaugural episode, he joins host Chip Gibbons for an in-depth conversation. On the 50th anniversary of the Pentagon Papers release, Ellsberg explains how the top secret history of the Vietnam War led him to believe the war was not merely a mistake, but a crime. Ellsberg explains what was in the Pentagon Papers, why he chose to release them, and what he hoped to accomplish.

The Pentagon Papers whistleblower also talks about his current work to alert the public to the dangers of nuclear war and how in doing so he may be putting himself yet again in the crosshairs of the Espionage Act. 

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