Judge OKs limited release of Pentagon Papers case records

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press


Alanna Durkin Richer, Associated Press
Updated 4:00 pm CST, Tuesday, February 4, 2020

BOSTON (AP) — The government must release some documents that will shed light on two grand juries that sat in Boston nearly 50 years ago to investigate the leak of the Pentagon Papers, a federal judge ruled Tuesday.

The records detailing the probe into the publication of records that exposed the deceit of American policymakers during the Vietnam War were sought by Jill Lepore, a Harvard University professor and New Yorker staff writer.

Lepore filed a petition in 2018 seeking the long-secret documents from the 1971 grand juries, saying the records would “fill a significant gap in the public's understanding of the Pentagon Papers episode and contribute to contemporary debates over press freedom and national security.”

But federal prosecutors fought their release, arguing that it is critical to keep grand juries secret in order to encourage witnesses to testify freely and protect the privacy of people who are later cleared of accusations.


Read more: https://www.chron.com/news/us/article/Judge-OKs-limited-release-of-Pentagon-Papers-case-15029697.php

[elleng]

1. 'The government must release some documents that will shed light on two grand juries

that sat in Boston nearly 50 years ago to investigate the leak of the Pentagon Papers, a federal judge ruled Tuesday.'