Pentagon let Hollywood in on Bin Laden sting, documents claim

Washington: In the months after the US military mission that killed Osama Bin Laden, Pentagon officials met with Hollywood filmmakers and gave them special access in an effort to influence the creation of a film about the operation, newly released documents show.

Emails and meeting transcripts obtained from the Pentagon and CIA through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit by the conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch suggest that officials went out of their way to assist the filmmakers, while trying to keep their cooperation from becoming public.

Director Kathryn Bigelow and screenwriter Mark Boal, who won Oscars for their 2009 Iraq war movie, The Hurt Locker, were granted access to a Navy Seal who was involved in planning the May 2011 raid, according to a transcript of a meeting that took place in July.

"The only thing we ask is that you not reveal his name in any way as a consultant because... he shouldn't be talking out of school," Undersecretary of Defence for Intelligence Michael Vickers told the filmmakers. Vickers later added: "This at least gives him one step removed and he knows what he can and can't say, but this way at least he can be as open as he can with you and it ought to meet your needs."

The name of the "planner, Seal Team six operator and commander," was redacted from the documents that were provided to Judicial Watch.

Meeting denied

A Pentagon spokesman told Politico that the identity of "a planner, not a member of Seal Team six," was provided "as a possible point of contact for additional information if the DoD determined that additional support was merited."

"No additional official DoD support was granted, nor to our knowledge was it pursued by the filmmakers," Lt. Col. James Gregory told Politico.

Pentagon Press Secretary George Little told the Associated Press that the meeting between the planner and the filmmakers never actually took place.

Bigelow and Boal were also allowed to tour "the vault," a CIA building where tactical planning for the raid took place, an internal CIA email shows.

CIA spokesman Preston Golson said: "Virtually every office and conference room in our headquarters is called a ‘vault' in agency lingo," he told the Associated Press. "The ‘vault' in question, that had been used for planning the raid, was empty at the time of the filmmakers' visit."

The Defence Department's acting inspector general is investigating whether any classified information was improperly disclosed. Nothing in the 153 pages of records from the Department of Defence and 113 pages from the CIA indicates the filmmakers were given classified information. But Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch, said they "show that politically connected filmmakers were given extraordinary and secret access to Bin Laden raid information, including the identity of a Seal Team six leader."

Rep. Peter T. King, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, said the documents left him "even more concerned about the possible exposure of classified information to these filmmakers, who as far as I know do not possess security clearances."

— Los Angeles Times