Did Henry Kissinger Push Nixon To Assault Daniel Ellsberg?

An 18-page investigation memorandum has been obtained by NBC News that raises some disturbing questions about the Nixon White House and specifically the role of former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.  The memo details the campaign of political violence by Nixon aides.  The memo references a plot to have Daniel Ellsberg beaten up by surrogates of the Nixon Administration.  Kissinger has been cited as one of those pushing Nixon to deal with Ellsberg.

Ellsberg was the subject of the theft of medial records.  He was a military analyst who worked for RAND corporation and released the Pentagon Papers, a study that contradicted critical statements about the Vietnam war.  He was charged under the Espionage Act of 1917 along with other charges of theft and conspiracy, but those charged were dismissed on May 11, 1973.  Ellsberg long maintained that Nixon sent Cuban assets to  “to incapacitate [me] totally.” Nixon denied the allegation.

However, this June 5, 1975 memo by Watergate special prosecutor Nick Akerman details evidence that Nixon operatives plotted an “assault on antiwar demonstrators” at a rally at the U.S. Capitol featuring Ellsberg.  The memo includes the result of an interview with Roger Stone who was involved in some of the most controversial activities of the Nixon staff.  Notably, Stone is now known to be a close adviser to President Donald Trump.

The memo says that the men would assault “long-haired demonstrators, in particular Ellsberg.”  Stone has insisted it was Henry Kissinger who was pushing Nixon to deal with Ellsberg.  He stated “The Nixon administration’s paranoia about Daniel Ellsberg is driven by Henry Kissinger. You can hear him in the tapes: ‘He’s a pervert, Mr. President. He must be dealt with, Mr. President.'”

Ironically, Kissinger recently also met with Trump.

The memo suggests President Nixon was informed of the operation because aides John Ehrlichman and Bob Haldeman believed that the operation “might someday hurt the president” if links to the operatives were ever uncovered.