President Richard Nixon attempted to control the release of the so-called Pentagon Papers by referring the matter over to the Subversive Activities Control Board. This board classified these documents as Top Secret. As such, newspapers that were publishing them in a serialized form were according to the US government, endangering the nation's security. Daniel Ellsberg ws identified as the "leaker" and called by the Control Board an "Abomination", and the culprit behind the leaks.