Daniel Ellsberg, the man who in 1971 exposed Vietnam War intelligence that stunned the country, doubts the leak of Pentagon documents last year on Discord poses any severe threats to US national security.
Ellsberg, who is 92 and battling pancreatic cancer, commented on the Pentagon's handling of classified information in a Tuesday interview with The Washington Post's Devlin Barrett.
"There is no reason to believe that it harmed American national security in any measurable way," he told The Post.
Public fears about the leak's consequences have been blown out of proportion because the US government tends to keep a "mystique of secrecy," he said, per The Post.
"At the Pentagon, top secret is like toilet paper, it's nothing," the former military analyst told the outlet.
CIA Director William Burns appeared to echo a similar sentiment on April 11 as he spoke at an event in Texas, CNN reported.
"I think there is a serious problem of overclassification sometimes in the US government," Burns said, per CNN. "Which I think needs to be taken on."
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