 I want to bring in former United States Senator Mike Ravel. You represent Alaska from 1969 to 1980. He's best known for having been given the Pentagon Papers by Daniel Ellsberg who's been on this vigil one time, at least one time before Dan has, because Dan went to the press and of course the government stopped in prior restraint, ultimately the press from continuing to publish. So he went to a few senators like George McGovern who was running for president and didn't want anything to do with it. And a couple of other less courageous senators and then he found Mike Ravel who was willing to do it and Mike read the papers into the congressional record during a subcommittee hearing and the next day was the Supreme Court decision actually, the very next morning in which the court ruled at the times in the post were right that they cannot be stopped prior to publication, they cannot be prior restraint but the majority of the judges said that after publication of classified information they are liable to be arrested and that's key to the Estanche case because under the Espionage Act, technically it's an horrific act but technically they could get him just for the possession and dissemination of the documents. I was literally a top secret control officer. I could classify and declassify and I was 24 years old and Green is all get out and so now you advance it to I'm a U.S. Senator and I'm going on 42 years old and all I can do is go into a room under guard and read depending on papers and I couldn't take notes and the obvious no step. This was ridiculous in my mind, terrible. So when Dan called my office and spoke to me would I be willing to use it in my filibuster because I was filibustering the draft at the time and in a second I said yes, please hang up because I wasn't sure if he was being tailed or I was being tailed. So we did, we met subsequently in his movie, The Most Dangerous Man in America that he goes through in some detail about what had happened between Dan and myself and the transfer of the documents. You remind me of that first phone call. I remember the words I think that I use when I talk to you which were Senator is it true that you're planning to filibuster which was going to keep the draft postponed at least as long as he filibustered couldn't pass it or renew it with the draft. Wasn't that it? Re-institution? It was renewed in September when they broke my filibuster because Mansfield wanted to let John Stennis say face and Nixon say face. So Nixon agreed to let the draft expire two years hence which was 73. When 73 year old around I was still there and John Stennis being quite the honorable person he held to the agreement that the draft would expire. So when I always say that I was instrumental in ending the draft and that's the terminology that I use instrumental because they wouldn't let me get credit and of course Nixon got credit but great about Nixon in one of the books he wrote to try and rejuvenate himself for the American people he wrote a paragraph saying that the worst mistake I ever made was agreeing to end the draft. I enjoyed that. I was impressed that this Senator whom I didn't know I read that he was going to filibuster I had actually tested a couple people on main names here including J. Lord Nelson who had voted against appropriations a few times in connection with the war and had raised questions about it. I was kind of testing him whether he was a person to go with the Pentagon Papers and I tried one thing after another he brushed him all off mighty filibuster against the war might he do this and that and he seemed pretty burnt out to me at that point this was in the back in nineteen sixty nine then let me add something there that could be helpful to you. The Gailer was one of the advisors of McGovern Gailer is the one that advised McGovern don't do this. This will destroy your chances of becoming president. So I just want to listen with Nelson I got so disgusted with him finally and I was going to see McGovern leader so at the end I got up and I said Senator Nelson you've done a lot on the war you criticize it there were times in my career when I wish I had done more than I did and I hope Senator you don't finish your career feeling that you had not done more than you actually done I left him in some I wasn't in a good move and I went to see see McGovern and McGovern said he was going to use the Pentagon Papers he had a very different attitude and I went through the whole thing with him but he said give me a week to think about it and at the end of that week he did say he couldn't do it after all and later when I asked I said do you mind if we come and discuss at some point I went in to see him maybe a few weeks later when I was in town and he said that he had discussed this with a friend his closest confidant what you just said and who had advised him that he couldn't do it and he guessed he asked if it was your name McGovern had earlier said nothing could compel him to reveal my name you know he showed the Constitution speech clause isn't it that he can't be questioned about anything he said on the floor of Congress he said they can't even question me they can't make me tell your name whatever and so he said I did however tell a friend and he asked me was that Dan Ellsberg and I said was that Gaylord Nelson and he guessed from my little exchange with him that I was the bad guy who was trying to get him into bad waters there and I didn't hold that against McGovern because he was running for president at that point and I had said to him earlier that I knew it was very questionable for him to run for president having put these out and he said you know you know my source of funding is different from these other guys and the people who backed me won't be bothered by it he said but a week later with Gaylord Nelson it changed his mind so here is this guy Gravel now who is going to do a stick his neck out and by the way a very good guy that I dealt with earlier Senator Goodell who had called for us to get out of Vietnam in one year and cut the fund off he didn't he couldn't get it first one co-sponsor to go with him but when I raised the question later to him of a fellow butcher he said Dan if I could get people to join me I do it said but if you do it as one person you're gonna look ridiculous and in this job you cannot afford to look ridiculous so here was a senator Gravel who was willing to look ridiculous if necessary you know all all by himself he wasn't asking anybody else to join so I said is it true you're gonna do this and you said yes I am gonna do it I said well if you really want to read stuff I can give you enough to read till Christmas busy till Christmas and mind you I'm dyslexic so actually a lot more than that it's it's tough reading as you found when you were reading into the record hard to read it I was so terrible in fact I remember the point that where you really gave up where he said we are sending people over there to die and to kill for a government of drug dealers you know and and pushers basically which was exactly right and very hard to say the papers prove that for 20 years we have the victims of our southeast Asia policy I was frightened to death over releasing the Pentagon papers I had no idea where I was going to prison I like to think of as my country's killing people were maiming Americans and this is terrible and so I was overcome with emotion not patriotism just the emotion of something you love dearly that has gone astray he continued until exhaustion and emotion overcame him after one o'clock this morning I collected myself and I ask you now keep mine I'm the only one on the committee I ask unanimous consent to put all these papers into the record and I've got the gavel and I slam it and I say here no objection so ordered that's it papers are out they're in the Senate record outside the courthouse this morning they probably couldn't have done it Ellsberg was walled off by newsmen and supporters as he admitted that he was indeed the man who brought the Pentagon papers to the press and congressional leaders I did this clearly at my own deputy and I am prepared to answer to all the consequences of these decisions