Obama administration DID leak classified information to filmmakers on Osama bin Laden raid

Kathryn Bigelow and Mark Boal, who made Oscar-winning film The Hurt Locker, given access

Secret 'vault' where raid was planned and identity of Navy SEAL involved in mission given to filmmakers

Controversy that film's release date before November elections would 'boost Obama's ratings'



The Obama administration arranged for Hollywood filmmakers to have special access to government officials involved in the commando operation that killed Osama bin Laden, it has been revealed.



Conservative legal group Judicial Watch posted what it claimed was 153 pages of Pentagon documents and 113 pages of CIA documents about the film project on its website yesterday.

The paper trail revealed that filmmakers were given access to top White House officials, the identity of a SEAL team member involved in the raid on bin Laden's compound in Pakistan and were taken to the top-secret 'vault' where the attack was planned.

Access Hollywood: Director Kathryn Bigelow and screenwriter Mark Boal have been given special privileges to White House, CIA and Pentagon information to make a film about the mission to kill Osama bin Laden

The exchanges were between White House, CIA, Pentagon officials and Kathryn Bigelow and Mark Boal, the director and screenwriter of The Hurt Locker, a 2008 film about the Iraq war that won an Oscar for Best Picture.

The film project, titled Zero Dark Thirty about the May 2011 raid on bin Laden's compound in Pakistan, became a focus of controversy last year when it was reported that its release date was weeks before the November 6 election - timed to boost President Obama's image to voters.



Producers have now pushed the release back to December.

The documents were obtained through a lawsuit filed under the Freedom of Information Act - which can be used to force government agencies to release undisclosed information.

Neither the CIA nor the Pentagon disputed the authenticity of the documents. A spokesman for the National Security Council said the White House would have no comment on the documents beyond those issued last August by press secretary Jay Carney, who said the Obama administration had not given the filmmakers classified information.

Destined for Hollywood: President Obama, VP Joe Biden and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton watch the raid on bin Laden's compound in Pakistan

The CIA and Pentagon said there was nothing unusual about their dealings with the filmmakers.

'The CIA has been open about our engagement with writers, documentary filmmakers, movie and TV producers, and others in the entertainment industry,' said Jennifer Youngblood, an agency spokeswoman.

She added: 'Our goal is an accurate portrayal of the men and women of the CIA, their vital mission and the commitment to public service that defines them.



'The protection of national security equities is always paramount in any engagement with the entertainment industry.'

Pentagon spokesman George Little said: 'The Department of Defence, as well as other agencies and departments, regularly engage with the entertainment industry to inform projects ranging from books to documentaries to feature films.

'Many individuals in the industry expressed interest in developing projects on what can only be described as one of the top intelligence and military successes of a generation. Our engagement on these projects was driven by a desire to inform, not by timing.'

One to watch: A film about the Navy SEAL raid which led to the death of bin Laden in May 2011 was originally planned for release weeks before the November 6 elections - but has been pushed back

In a statement posted on its website, Judicial Watch said the documents indicated that the Pentagon granted Bigelow and Boal access to a 'planner, Operator and Commander of SEAL Team Six,' the Navy commando unit that carried out the raid during which bin Laden was killed in Abbottabad, Pakistan.

Included was a transcript of a July 14, 2011, meeting with Pentagon officials in which Bigelow and Boal indicate that Boal met with White House National Security Council official Denis McDonough and chief counter-terrorism adviser John Brennan to discuss the film project.

The transcript quotes Michael Vickers, the Pentagon's intelligence chief, giving the filmmakers the identity of a senior SEAL team member involved in the raid on the condition that 'you not reveal his name in any way as a consultant, because... he shouldn't be talking out of school'.

Judicial Watch said that it also obtained an internal CIA email that indicates Bigelow and Boal were granted access to 'the vault' - a CIA installation where some of the planning for the bin Laden raid took place.

Other correspondence released by the government indicated that although they were helping the filmmakers, Obama administration officials otherwise sought to limit media access to those involved in the bin Laden operation and other counter-terrorism insiders.

Glamor: Jessica Chastain and Chris Pratt will reportedly star in the film titled Zero Dark Thirty scheduled for release in December

In another email, from June 13, 2011, Intelligence chief Vickers advises Douglas Wilson, the Pentagon's public affairs chief, that the Defence Department 'would like to shape the story to prevent any gross inaccuracies,' but it did not 'want to make it look like the commanders think it's okay to talk to the media'.

Judicial Watch said another Pentagon email described how a representative of the Glover Park Group, a Washington lobbying firm with close ties to the Democratic Party, helped arrange the filmmakers' access to administration officials.

The Glover Park group had no immediate comment.

The protection of national security equities is always paramount in any engagement with the entertainment industry.

Jennifer Youngblood, CIA spokeswoman





An investigation was undertaken by Judicial Watch into the Obama administration's dealings with the filmmakers after seeing press reports suggesting that the administration might have leaked classified information as source material for the film.

Maureen Dowd, a columnist for the New York Times, wrote last year that the movie was scheduled to open on October 12, just more than three weeks before the November 6 presidential election.

After the column appeared, U.S. Representative Peter King, the outspoken Republican who chairs the House Committee on Homeland Security, asked the Inspectors General of both the Pentagon and CIA to investigate the administration's dealings with the filmmakers, suggesting in a letter that he was concerned about leaks of classified information.

At the time, White House spokesman Jay Carney rejected King's suggestion that security had been compromised as 'ridiculous' and denied the White House had disclosed any classified information to the filmmakers.

The movie is being filmed in India and Jordan and stars Chris Pratt, Jessica Chastain and Joel Edgerton, according to movie website IMDB.



With release scheduled for December 19, the movie is produced by Megan Ellison, daughter of Oracle Corp chief Larry Ellison, and backed by Sony Pictures.

Media reports have said the release was delayed until after the presidential election to prevent the project from being associated with partisan politics.