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Getbig Main Boards => Politics and Political Issues Board => Topic started by: Soul Crusher on May 22, 2012, 02:31:10 PM
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Judicial Watch Obtains DOD and CIA Records Detailing Meetings with bin Laden Raid Filmmakers
Judicial Watch ^ | May 22, 2012
DOD Officials Disclosed to Filmmakers Identity of SEAL Team Six Operator and Commander; Ask Film Director to Withhold Operator’s Name, ‘because he shouldn’t be talking out of school.’
(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch, the organization that investigates and fights government corruption, announced today that it has obtained records from the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) regarding meetings and communications between government agencies and Kathryn Bigelow, Academy Award-winning director of The Hurt Locker, and screenwriter Mark Boal. According to the records, the Obama Defense Department granted Bigelow and Boal access to a “planner, Operator and Commander of SEAL Team Six,” which was responsible for the capture and killing of Osama bin Laden, to assist Bigelow prepare her upcoming feature film.
The records, obtained pursuant to court order in a Freedom of Information Actlawsuit filed on January 21, 2012, include153 pages of records from the DOD and113 pages of records from the CIA ( Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of Defense (No. 1:12-cv-00049)). The documents were delivered to Judicial Watch late last Friday (May 18). The following are the highlights from the records, which include internal Defense Department email correspondence as well as a transcript from a key July 14, 2011, meeting between DOD officials, Bigelow and Boal:
•A transcript of a July 14, 2011 , meeting between DOD officials, including Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence Michael Vickers, Bigelow and Boal indicates that Boal met directly with White House officials on at least two occasions regarding the film: “I took your guidance and spoke to the WH and had a good meeting with Brennan and McDonough and I plan to follow up with them; and they were forward leaning and interested in sharing their point of view; command and control; so that was great, thank you,” Boal said according to the transcript. Vickers asks if the meeting was a follow-up, to which Boal responds, “Yes correct; this was a follow-up.” The documents seemingly reference John O. Brennan, Chief Counterterrorism Advisor to President Obama and Denis McDonough, who serves as President Obama’s Deputy National Security Advisor.
• The July 14, 2011, meeting transcript also reveals that the DOD provided the filmmakers with the identity of a “planner, SEAL Team 6 Operator and Commander.” (The name is blacked out in the document.) In proposing the arrangement, Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence Michael Vickers said: “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.” Vickers went on to say during the meeting at the Pentagon: “This at least, this 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.” Boal later responds, “You delivered.”
• A July 13, 2011, internal CIA email indicates that Bigelow and Boal were granted access to “the Vault,” which is described the CIA building where some of the tactical planning for the bin Laden raid took place: “I was given your name as the POC in [redacted] who could determine the feasibility of having a potential walk-through of…the Vault in the [redacted] building that was used for some of the tactical planning in the Bin Laden Raid [sic]. In consultation with the Office of Public Affairs and as part of the larger chronicling of the Bin Laden raid, OPA will be hosting some visitors sanctioned by ODCIA this Friday afternoon.” (The name of the sender is blacked out.) “Of course this is doable,” an official responds.
• DOD Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Douglas Wilson told colleagues in a June 13, 2011, email to limit media access and that he would follow up with the White House: “I think this looks very good as a way forward, and agree particularly that we need to be careful here so we don’t open the media floodgates on this. I’m going to check with WH to update them on status, and will report back.” A day later, he wrote Department of Defense communications staffers, saying: “Ok to set up the second session with Vickers. I am getting additional guidance from WH.”
• Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence Michael Vickers told Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Douglas Wilson and two other DOD communications staffers in a June 13, 2011, email that “[DOD] would like to shape the story to prevent any gross inaccuracies, but do not want to make it look like the commanders think it’s okay to talk to the media.” The email went on to say: “For the intelligence case, they are basically using the WH-approved talking points we used the night of the operation.” The talking points called the raid “a ‘Gutsy Decision’ by the POTUS,” adding that “WH involvement was critical.”
• A June 9, 2011, email from Commander Bob Mehal, Public Affairs Officer for Defense Press Operations, to Vickers and other DOD staff summarizes a meeting with Boal and notes the release date for the film: “Release date set for 4th Qtr 2012…”
• A July 13, 2011, email to Commander Bob Mehal, Public Affairs Officer for Defense Press Operations, indicates that Sarah Zukowski, an associate for The Glover Park Group, arranged the July 14, 2011 visit by Bigelow and Boal to the DOD and the CIA. The Glover Park Group is described by Politico as a“ Democratic-leaning advocacy firm.”
• A June 27, 2011, email to an official at the Office of the Secretary of Defense suggests that the request from Bigelow and Boal to meet with Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence Michael Vickers came via the White House press office. A June 22, 2011, email to Commander Bob Mehal, Public Affairs Officer for Defense Press Operations notes, “The White House does want to engage with Mark but it probably won’t be for a few more weeks. We should provide them a read-out of the session you do with Vickers.” The name of the White House official who forwarded the request is blacked out.
Judicial Watch launched its investigation of Bigelow’s meetings with the Obama administration following press reports suggesting that the Obama administration may have leaked classified information to the director as source material for Bigelow’s film.
New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd wrote that the information leak was designed to help the Obama 2012 presidential reelection campaign: “The White House is also counting on the Kathryn Bigelow and Mark Boal big-screen version of the killing of Bin Laden to counter Obama’s growing reputation as ineffectual. The Sony film by the Oscar-winning pair who made ‘The Hurt Locker’ will no doubt reflect the president’s cool, gutsy decision against shaky odds. Just as Obamaland was hoping, the movie is scheduled to open on Oct. 12, 2012 — perfectly timed to give a home-stretch boost to a campaign that has grown tougher.”
In addition to Judicial Watch’s pursuit of the bin Laden film records, the organization continues to fight in court for the release of the bin Laden post-mortem photos and video. The Obama administration continues to withhold these records citing national security concerns.
“These documents, which took nine months and a federal lawsuit to disgorge from the Obama administration, show that politically-connected film makers were giving extraordinary and secret access to bin Laden raid information, including the identity of a Seal Team Six leader,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “It is both ironic and hypocritical that the Obama administration stonewalled Judicial Watch’s pursuit of the bin Laden death photos, citing national security concerns, yet seemed willing to share intimate details regarding the raid to help Hollywood filmmakers release a movie ‘perfectly timed to give a home-stretch boost’ to the Obama campaign.”
To view the entire production click here.
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DISGUSTING !!!!
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SEALS are expensive.
Gotta pimp them out to keep that funding.
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Dudes trying to use DEVGRU for his personal benefit?
SEAL's all over are gonna be pissed, and were going to hear about it.
SEAL's dont like the limelight... they just want to remain anonymous and do their job. Even the dudes in Act Of Valor all said no initially, the only reason they did it was because it was going to be done one way or another and they wanted it to be done right. (Plus the Navy greenlighted it as a recruitment video and told them they had to, lol.)
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White House gave Kathryn Bigelow access to SEAL Team 6 commander, CIA 'vault'
Entertainment Weekly ^ | 5/23/12 | Hillary Busis
In January, the Pentagon began investigating whether the White House had shared classified information with Kathryn Bigelow, director of an upcoming film about the search for Osama bin Laden. Now, conservative watchdog organization Judicial Watch has obtained records that reveal President Obama’s Defense Department did provide Bigelow and screenwriter Mark Boal access to high-level information and resources — including a “planner, Operator and Commander” of the Navy SEAL team that successfully captured and killed bin Laden last year. A Department of Defense meeting
(Excerpt) Read more at insidemovies.ew.com ...
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BY: Washington Free Beacon Staff - May 23, 2012 11:57 am
JON SCOTT: Now we’re joined by Tom Fitton, the president of judicial watch, the organization that obtained these documents through the freedom of information act. Is this what you were looking for, or as Wendell suggested, were you only filing the FOIA request for the photos?
TOM FITTON: Well, the FOIA request for the photos is a separate piece of litigation. So we were fighting tooth and nail for that, being told by the administration we can’t get access to it because it would violate national security to release the photos because it might offend the terrorists, but meantime they’re leaking this national security sensitive information, it looks like, to these Hollywood film-makers. Maureen Dowd of the New York Times who exposed this–no conservative—she said she had access to classified information and it was an effort, seen as a stretch, a boost in the homestretch to the campaign in October of 2012. That’s when the movie was supposed to be released. Then we find out from these documents that took nine months and a federal lawsuit to get out of this administration, that they disclosed identity of a seal 6 team operator planner commander to these two individuals. My understanding is those are the most private, most carefully held information in the government, the identities of those individuals. I don’t understand why the administration thinks it is appropriate to release that type of information but basic information about the raid they refuse to disclose.
SCOTT: The raid took place on the first of May–in the middle of May, then Defense Sec. Gates said at a news conference he said, my concern there were too many people in too many places talking too much about this operation. Then this meeting takes place with Kathryn Bigelow, the director of “The Hurt Locker,” that’s the movie that was not always positive portrayal of U.S. forces in Iraq, won Academy Award for that one. This meeting took place in July. The administration is concerned about all the leaks taking place in mid-May and having this meeting in July? How does that make sense?
FITTON: It doesn’t make sense. The email traffic suggests they don’t want meetings disclosed to American people and rest of the media. The White House talking points today this is the typical way they handle media and book requests, making a movie or a book or doing any reporting would die for the type of access that Kathryn Bigelow had. She had access to the individuals working with the Glover Park Group, a Democratic-leaning firm. She is political supporter of the president. She made a donation in the December of 2011, FEC records show. This was all very politicized. And you know, it’s one thing to say that you can’t release information because it impacts national security, but you’ve got to be consistent across the board on it and obviously it is obvious these decisions are political and they released national security-sensitive information, if it is deemed to help the administration or frankly the Obama campaign.
SCOTT: One of the things, one of the talking, one of the, I guess, counterpoints from the administration about this is that this planner is not actually a Navy SEAL, it is a Navy SEAL planner. Is that a distinction?
FITTON: That is a distinction without a difference. It seems to me the individuals directly involved in planning and commanding the raid, it was listed as a seal team 6 leader and commander and planner, those names ought to be kept private. Interesting they won’t tell us –
SCOTT: Those names were blacked out of your documents but they have clearly been given to the filmmakers?
FITTON: That’s right. So that suggests that is the disclosure to the film-makers was improper. Either they’re improperly withholding names from us or they improperly gave the name to them.
SCOTT: Tom Fitton from judicial watch, the organization that obtained these documents. Tom, thanks very much.
FITTON: You’re welcome, Jon.
http://freebeacon.com/judicial-watch-investigates-hollywood-meeting-with-white-house-on-obl
Obama deserves a jail cell for life. FUBO and every disgusting turd who supports this.
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Pentagon, CIA, White House opened up to Hollywood on bin Laden raid
By JOSH GERSTEIN |
5/23/12 12:04 AM EDT
Just weeks after Pentagon and Central Intelligence Agency officials warned publicly of the dangers posed by leaks about the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, top officials at both agencies and at the White House granted Hollywood filmmakers unusual access to those involved in planning the raid and some of the methods they used to do it, newly released government records show.
At a briefing in July 2011, Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence Mike Vickers told filmmakers Michael Boal and Kathryn Bigelow that the leaders of the the Special Operations Command couldn't speak to them for appearances' sake. However, Vickers said that the Pentagon would make available a Navy SEAL who was involved in planning the raid from its earliest stages.
"On the operators side, Adm. McRaven and Adm. Olson do not want to talk directly, because it's just a bad, their [sic] just concerned as commanders of the force and they're telling them all the time—don't you dare talk to anybody, that it's just a bad example if it gets out—even with all sorts of restrictions and everything," Vickers said, according to a transcript of the meeting released Friday to Judicial Watch. The conservative watchdog group filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit demanding the documents.
"The basic idea is they'll make a guy available who was involved from the beginning as a planner, a SEAL Team 6 Operator and Commander," McRaven said.
"That's dynamite," Boal replied, according to the transcript. (Posted in full here and worth the read.)
Bigelow, best known for "The Hurt Locker," also chimed in. "That's incredible," she said, gratefully.
"He'll speak for operators and he'll speak for senior military commanders," Vickers continued, adding that the designated SEAL would essentially be a mouthpiece for McRaven and Olson. "The only thing we ask is that you not reveal his name in any way as a consultant because again it's the same thing, he shouldn't be talking out of school, this at least gives him one step removed and he knows what he can and can't say," Vickers added, vouching that the SEAL cleared to meet with the filmmakers would be able to provide "lots of color."
The Pentagon is now withholding from the public and the press the same name DoD gave the filmmakers. The response sent to Judicial Watch explains the deletion by citing privacy concerns as well as a statute allowing the Secretary of Defense to protect the names of members of "routinely deployable" and "sensitive" units. It is unclear whether the court will uphold such a withholding given that the name was already disclosed to a member of the public by a senior official, apparently with some forethought.
A Pentagon spokesman stressed Tuesday night that the name given to the filmmakers was not that of someone directly involved in carrying out the bin Laden raid.
"The identity of a planner, not a member of SEAL Team 6, was provided by USSOCOM as a possible point of contact for additional information if the DoD determined that additional support was merited," Lt. Col. James Gregory said. "No additional official DoD support was granted, nor to our knowledge was it pursued by the film makers."
Gregory added Wednesday afternoon that the SEAL assigned to meet with the filmmakers never actually did so. It's unclear why, but the issue of administration cooperation with the film became a matter of public controversy in early August, just a few weeks after the July 15 meeting between Vickers and the film team.
"The redaction suggests the disclosure of the Seal Team Six leader's name to Bigelow and Boal was improper," Judicial Watch president Tom Fitton told POLITICO Tuesday night.
Some Republicans have accused the Obama administration of having shared secret information with the movie team in order to paint President Barack Obama in a flattering light in a film that was originally scheduled to come out before the November election. The film, now called "Zero Dark Thirty," has since been delayed to Dec. 19.
The documents obtained by Judicial Watch show the White House and the CIA also rolled out the welcome mat for the filmmakers. Boal visited with acting CIA director Michael Morrell and had access to a mock-up at CIA headquarters that depicted the Abbottabad, Pakistan compound where the raid was carried out, the records indicate.
"After reviewing these emails, I am even more concerned about the possible exposure of classified information to these filmmakers, who as far as I know, do not possess security clearances," House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Peter King (R-N.Y.) said in a statement early Wednesday. "The email messages indicate that the filmmakers were allowed an unprecedented visit to a classified facility so secret that its name is redacted in the released email. If this facility is so secret that the name cannot even be seen by the public, then why in the world would the Obama Administration allow filmmakers to tour it?"
CIA officials seemed aware that cooperating with Boal was in some tension with the government's public line that it was trying to crack down on leaks.
"We’re trying to keep [Boal's] visits at HQs [sic] a bit quiet, because of the sensitivities surrounding who gets to participates in this types of things [sic]," CIA spokesman Marie Harf wrote to a colleague in June 2011. "I’m sure you understand."
Last December, Harf left the CIA for President Barack Obama's re-election campaign, where she is associate policy director for national security.
"The CIA has been open about our engagement with writers, documentary filmmakers, movie and TV producers, and others in the entertainment industry," CIA Spokeswoman Jennifer Youngblood said in an e-mail Tuesday night. "The protection of national security equities is always paramount in any engagement with the entertainment industry."
At the White House, Boal apparently met with National Security Council Chief of Staff Denis McDonough and Deputy National Security Adviser for Counterterrorism John Brennan. There are few details on those meetings in the released records. The White House is not subject to the Freedom of Information Act.
King also described as "troubling" the role of a Democratic lobbying shop, Glover Park Group, in arranging some of the meetings. The names of Glover's Sarah Zukowski and Michael Feldman, a former aide to Vice President Al Gore, appear on various e-mails related to the sessions.
A spokeswoman for the Pentagon's Inspector General said Wednesday that an investigation into disclosures of DoD information to the bin Laden movie filmmakers is ongoing.
UPDATE: This post has been updated with the statement from King and comment from the DOD IG.
UPDATE 2: Updated with link to transcript.
UPDATE 3: Updated with Gregory's statement that filmmakers never met SOCOM liasion. Also corrected spelling of Bigelow's first name, which was erroneous in released DoD documents.
http://www.politico.com/blogs/under-the-radar/2012/05/pentagon-cia-white-house-opened-up-to-hollywood-on-124293.html
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Barack Obama accused of risking national security over Osama bin Laden film
President Barack Obama has been accused of risking America's national security for political gain by giving Hollywood filmmakers access to secret material on the raid that killed Osama bin Laden.
Critics of Mr Obama from the Left also said it was astonishing that an administration that had prosecuted more whistleblowers than all previous governments combined had been caught happily leaking to Hollywood allies Photo: AP
By Jon Swaine, Washington
5:45PM BST 23 May 2012
Documents released under freedom of information laws show that Mr Obama's defence department and CIA enthusiastically assisted Kathryn Bigelow, the Oscar-winning director, for her forthcoming film on the raid.
Mr Obama's administration even made available "a planner, operator and commander of SEAL Team Six", the elite Navy squad that killed bin Laden in May last year. The identities of Navy SEALS are a closely-kept secret.
The filmmakers were taken to a classified facility, whose name had to be redacted in the released documents, and were allowed to tour the CIA vaults, containing vast amounts of secret information. They were also shown the CIA's mock-up of bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan.
At the time, Ms Bigelow's film, titled Zero Dark Thirty, was due to be released in October, later prompting accusations that it was timed to boost Mr Obama's prospects for re-election the following month.
Congressman Peter King of New York, the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, said on Wednesday that the emails told a "damning story of extremely close, unprecedented, and potentially dangerous collaboration" between top Obama officials, the filmmakers and a Left-wing lobbying firm.
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"If this facility is so secret that the name cannot even be seen by the public, then why in the world would the Obama Administration allow filmmakers to tour it?" Mr King asked.
Amid Republican calls for an inquiry, Mr King wrote to senior officials at the Pentagon and CIA demanding further details on what was disclosed to Ms Bigelow and her screenwriter, Mark Boal.
In a meeting last July, Michael Vickers, under secretary of defence for intelligence, promised to "make a guy available who was involved from the beginning", who would "give you everything you would want", transcripts show. "That's dynamite," replied Mr Boal. Ms Bigelow, who won the 2009 Oscar for Best Director for The Hurt Locker, added: "That's incredible".
Mr Vickers said: "The only thing we ask is that you not reveal his name in any way he shouldn't be talking out of school." The Pentagon now claims that the man, whose name was redacted in the released documents, was not involved directly in the raid.
The meeting was held just weeks after Robert Gates, then Mr Vickers's boss as defence secretary, said he was "very concerned" that leaks from the bin Laden raid could jeopardise future operations. Mr Obama's administration has aggressively targeted the sources of government leaks throughout its first term.
In an email, Mr Boal also discussed meeting John Brennan, Mr Obama's chief counterterrorism adviser, and Denis McDonough, the President's deputy national security adviser.
The Republicans said the emails and transcripts – which amount to hundreds of pages – suggested that classified material may have been given to people without necessary security clearances.
"A release of classified documents for clearly political ends would call into question the Obama administration's judgment," said Kirsten Kukowski, a party spokesman. "Putting politics before our national security is certainly cause for concern and it should be investigated immediately." Republicans also voiced concerns that the documents showed some of the contact between officials and the film's producers had been brokered by Glover Park Group, a Left-leaning lobbying firm whose senior staff include former Clinton administration officials.
Critics of Mr Obama from the Left also said it was astonishing that an administration that had prosecuted more whistleblowers than all previous governments combined had been caught happily leaking to Hollywood allies.
The White House referred to a statement by the President's press secretary last year that it was "ridiculous" and "simply false" to suggest that classified information had been leaked for the film, which is now due to be released in December, after the presidential election.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/al-qaeda/9285626/Barack-Obama-accused-of-risking-national-security-over-Osama-bin-Laden-film.html
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Pretty disturbing.
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This guy would hand over the launch codes to every nuke in our arsenal if it meant his reelection.
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Pretty disturbing.
Hey - let's worry about gay marriage, Trayvon, condoms, Bain, etc!
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Hey - let's worry about gay marriage, Trayvon, condoms, Bain, etc!
;D
Have to carry that water.
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They're not going to give them anything but a bunch of bullshit for a good propaganda film.
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MSNBC Panel: Outrage Would Ensue If Bush Leaked Bin Laden Raid Info
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2012/05/24/msnbc_panel_outrage_would_ensue_if_bush_leaked_bin_laden_raid_info.html
A MSNBC panel on the show "NOW" discusses a report that the Obama administration leaked information about the bin Laden mission to a movie studio doing a movie on the raid that led to the assassination of the al Qaeda leader. The panel said if former President George W. Bush had done this the reaction would be different. Here are their reactions:
Michael Hastings, Rolling Stone, BuzzFeed : This very serious issue is that the Obama administration has engaged in a selectively leaking campaign. When there's top secret information they want to put out that makes them look good, they are more than happy to roll out the red carpet. When, sort of, the more embarrassing, nefarious top-secret information … they put the stone wall up of bureaucracy. I mean, if it was Cy Hurst saying, 'I want to do a bin Laden story,' he would not have had that kind of meeting.
Sam Stein, Huffington Post: I think it's fair the administration can control whatever type of information they want to release to whoever they want to release it. I think it's also kind of lame, too, to be honest with you. I think, you know, giving it to a Hollywood producer for the purposes of packaging it in some sort of glorified theater is like -- it just strikes me as like a little bit too cute by half. And also it would be nice, we were talking about this off set, this administration has been very tough on journalists. They've cracked on leakers. They've been tougher in more respects than Bush, I believe. For them to then turn around and do, I just feel this is hypocritical.
S.E. Cupp: The Espionage Act has been invoked, I think, something like six times in the past -- just in this term under Obama. And I think that's a really excellent point. I think essentially what Obama and the administration wanted here was a campaign ad. Frankly, Hollywood already does plenty of campaign ads without, you know, getting the collusion here. But I think it puts the campaign in a fairly bad light, or the White House.
Nicholas Confessore, NYT: If you had seen a S.E.A.L. operator leak details of the operation to a reporter from The New York Times, I'd have to imagine we'd be seeing a prosecution, not e-mails.
Sam Stein: If Bush had done this with 9/11 and brought in a Hollywood producer, conservative filmmaker and say, 'I want to talk to you about where I was the morning of and how great and grand we were' -- I just think there would have been a popular outcry. And I think if you're going to be consistent you have to apply those standards to Obama as well.
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Judicial Watch Obtains ‘4 to 5 inch Stack’ of ‘Overlooked’ CIA Records Detailing Meetings with bin
Judicial Watch ^ | August 28, 2012
Posted on Tuesday, August 28, 2012 12:29:28 PM by jazusamo
Full title: Judicial Watch Obtains ‘4 to 5 inch Stack’ of ‘Overlooked’ CIA Records Detailing Meetings with bin Laden Filmmakers
Obama Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communications:
Obama White House ‘trying to have visibility into the UBL (Usama bin Laden) projects.’
(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today that it has obtained records from the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and Department of Defense (DOD) regarding meetings and communications between government agencies and Kathryn Bigelow, the Academy Award-winning director of The Hurt Locker, and screenwriter Mark Boal in preparation for their film Zero Dark Thirty, which details the capture and killing of Osama bin Laden. According to the records, the Obama administration granted Boal and Bigelow unusual access to agency information in preparation for their film, which was reportedly scheduled for an October 2012 release, just before the presidential election, but the trailers are running now until the rescheduled release in December.
The records – which should have been produced months ago pursuant to a court order in a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit filed on January 21, 2012 – include records from a “stack” of “overlooked” documents discovered by the CIA in July 2012. The following are highlights from the records, which include internal DOD, White House and CIA email correspondence with the filmmakers:
•According to a June 15, 2011, email from Benjamin Rhodes, Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communications, to then Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs Doug Wilson, then-CIA Director of Public Affairs George Little, and Deputy White House Press Secretary Jaime Smith, the Obama White House was intent on “trying to have visibility into the UBL (Usama bin Laden) projects.”
“…we are trying to have visibility into the UBL projects and this is likely the most high profile one. Would like to have whatever group is going around in here at the WH [White House] to get a sense of what they’re doing / what cooperation they’re seeking. Jamie will be POC [point of contact].”
•According to e-mail exchange on June 7, 2011, CIA spokesperson Marie E. Harf openly discussed providing preferential treatment to the Boal/Bigelow project over others related to the bin Laden killing: “I know we don’t pick favorites but it makes sense to get behind a winning horse…Mark and Kathryn’s movie is going to be the first and the biggest. It’s got the most money behind it, and two Oscar winners on board…”
•In a July 20, 2011, e-mail, Mark Boal writes to thank then-CIA Director of Public Affairs George Little for “pulling for him” with the agency, noting that it made, “all the difference.” Little responds: “…I can’t tell you how excited we all are (at DOD and CIA) about the project…PS – I want you to know how good I’ve been not mentioning the premiere tickets. :)”
•On July 13, 2011, Mark Boal’s assistant, Jonathan Leven, sent CIA spokesperson Marie Harf a copy of the floor plan of the bin Laden compound and asked him to verify its accuracy: “Per your conversation with Mark, can you verify whether this floor plan is accurate?” The next day Harf responds: “Ok, I checked with our folks, and that floor plan matches with what we have. It looks legit to us.”
•On July 14, 2011, Mark Boal asks CIA spokesperson Marie Harf to provide detailed information regarding the third floor of the compound that were not present on the open-source floor plan: “Would you mind looking into getting us some of the third floor specs…as the open source plan is missing those: height of wall, etc..? We will be building a full scale replica of the house. Including the inhabitants of the animal pen!” Harf responds minutes later: “Ha! Of course I don’t mind! I’ll work on that tomorrow…
•In an internal CIA memo regarding Kathryn Bigelow’s visit to agency headquarters dated July 14, 2011, CIA spokesperson Marie Harf describes Boal’s contact with the agency as a “deep dive.” (The memo was originally classified Secret.): “Kathryn is not interested in doing the deep dives that Mark did; she simply wants to meet the people Mark has been talking to.”
•On August 5, 2011, CIA Spokesperson Marie Harf exchanges several e-mails with New York Times reporter Mark Mazzetti about the Boal/Bigelow project and, specifically, about a column by Maureen Dowd to be published August 7, 2011, making critical reference to the access the filmmakers were given. Mazzetti gave Harf an advance copy of the article, with the caveat, “this didn’t come from me… and please delete after you read. See, nothing to worry about!”
•In a June 15, 2011, e-mail, from to Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communications Benjamin Rhodes, Doug Wilson notes that the cooperation that Boal and Bigelow had been getting from the CIA was with the “full knowledge and full approval/support” of Director Panetta. “Boal has been working with us and with the CIA (via George Little) for initial context briefings – at DoD this has been provided by Mike Vickers, and at CIA by relevant officials with the full knowledge and full approval/support of Director Panetta.”
•In a July 17, 2011, e-mail, CIA spokesperson Marie Harf advises then CIA Director of Public Affairs Greg Little that Boal and Bigelow would be “meeting individually with both [name redacted] and the translator who was on the raid…”
Judicial Watch launched its investigation of Bigelow’s meetings with the Obama administration following press reports suggesting that the Obama administration may have leaked classified information to the director as source material for Bigelow’s film.
New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd wrote that the information leak was designed to help the Obama 2012 presidential reelection campaign: “The White House is also counting on the Kathryn Bigelow and Mark Boal big-screen version of the killing of Bin Laden to counter Obama’s growing reputation as ineffectual. The Sony film [sic] by the Oscar-winning pair who made ‘The Hurt Locker’ will no doubt reflect the president’s cool, gutsy decision against shaky odds. Just as Obamaland was hoping, the movie is scheduled to open on Oct. 12, 2012 — perfectly timed to give a home-stretch boost to a campaign that has grown tougher.”
In addition to Judicial Watch’s pursuit of the bin Laden film records, the organization continues to fight in court for the release of post-mortem images of bin Laden and the alleged burial at sea. The Obama administration continues to withhold these records citing national security concerns.
“These new documents provide more backing to the serious charge that the Obama administration played fast and loose with national security information to help Hollywood filmmakers,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “No wonder we’ve had to fight one year of stonewalling from the administration. These new documents show there is no doubt that Obama White House was intensely interested in this film that was set to portray President Obama as ‘gutsy.’”
Read about the search for bin Laden documents and more in Tom Fitton’s New York Times best-seller The Corruption Chronicles, on sale now.
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>:(
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>:(
What is great is that the SEAL releasing this book is going to show Obama lying about this and to the film makers just to pimp himself.
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I don`t care about any of it. I just want a good book to read and a good movie to watch.
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What is great is that the SEAL releasing this book is going to show Obama lying about this and to the film makers just to pimp himself.
did you see the newest information on this? Seems obama lied about a TON on this story. Bin Laden had already shot himself in the head with a makarov pistol before the US soldiers ever got into the room - they heard gunshot before entering the room. Then they entered and pumped bullets into his chest while he laid there twitching and convulsing until he no longer moved.
Now, if this SEAL is telling the truth with this account (and to me, that is way more logical - Bin laden used to have a sidekick whose only job was to shoot him should the US forces get close enough for capture). Then it would mean Obama lied on a GRAND scale about this whole "we looked him in the eyes before shooting him" and all that nonsense about OBL being armed.
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did you see the newest information on this? Seems obama lied about a TON on this story. Bin Laden had already shot himself in the head with a makarov pistol before the US soldiers ever got into the room - they heard gunshot before entering the room. Then they entered and pumped bullets into his chest while he laid there twitching and convulsing until he no longer moved.
Now, if this SEAL is telling the truth with this account (and to me, that is way more logical - Bin laden used to have a sidekick whose only job was to shoot him should the US forces get close enough for capture). Then it would mean Obama lied on a GRAND scale about this whole "we looked him in the eyes before shooting him" and all that nonsense about OBL being armed.
Of course obama lied. That is what he does!
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http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/12/sources-say-dod-inspector-general-report-criticizes-vickers-in-discussions-with-filmmakers
FUBO!!!!