Former SEAL’s Book Reveals Classified Information: Pentagon
The Pentagon’s chief spokesman said for the first time that a book written by a former Navy SEAL who participated in the raid that killed Osama bin Laden contained classified information.
“Sensitive and classified information is contained in the book,” spokesman George Little said today at a Pentagon news conference.
The comment escalates a conflict between the Pentagon and the author who wrote “No Easy Day: The Firsthand Account of the Mission That Killed Osama Bin Laden.” Little has previously said the author, who wrote under the pen-name “Mark Owen,” violated a non-disclosure agreement he signed as a Navy SEAL by not submitting the book for pre-publication review.
The author’s attorney, Robert Luskin, has said a 2007 agreement “invites but by no means requires” pre-publication review. Luskin didn’t immediately respond to phone and e-mailed requests for comment today. The book was scheduled for publication today by Dutton, a unit of Penguin Group USA.