Secretary McNamara, a long-time friend, forewarns Graham that The New York Times is publishing an unflattering story featuring him. The story, another example of the Times' ability to get scoops while The Post languishes, is an exposé of the government's long-running deception regarding the Vietnam War. However, a court injunction quickly halts the Times from publishing further articles on the subject.

Post assistant editor Ben Bagdikian tracks down former colleague Ellsberg as the source for the leak. Ellsberg provides him copies of the same material given to the Times. Hand-picked Post reporters pore over mounds of pages, searching for additional headline stories. The Post's attorneys advise against publishing the material, lest the Nixon administration files criminal charges against them. Graham confers with McNamara, Bradlee, and trusted Post chairman, Fritz Beebe, agonizing about publishing. Bradlee, a close friend of former President John F. Kennedy, tells Graham that their politician friends (including JFK, as shown in the documents) abused their friendships by lying to them; her friendship with McNamara must not factor in on whether to publish. The situation intensifies when the Post's lawyers discover that Bagdikian's source is the same as the Times's, possibly putting Graham in contempt of court and potentially destroying the newspaper and her family legacy. Alternately, if the legal challenges are overcome, the Post could emerge as a significant journalistic institution. Graham runs the story.

In a letter to Bolton's lawyer, a top official at the National Security Council wrote the unpublished manuscript of Bolton's book "appears to contain significant amounts of classified information" and couldn't be published as written.

The letter, which is dated January 23, said some of the information was classified at the "top secret" level, meaning it "reasonably could be expected to cause exceptionally grave harm to the national security."

"The manuscript may not be published or otherwise disclosed without the deletion of this classified information," the letter read.