Panetta Promises Nothing Important Was Leaked for the Bin Laden Movie

AP
Connor Simpson 760 Views Jun 14, 2012

Leon Panetta had to tell the Senate Appropriations Committee the writer and director of Zero Dark Thirty, one of the killing Bin Laden movies, weren't given any classified information while researching the film. 

A Freedom of Information lawsuit from Judicial Watch revealed that director Kathryn Bigelow and screenwriter Mark Boal met with high-ranking officials in the CIA and were given unusual access to rooms the CIA used to plan the Bin Laden raid while researching for their Bin Laden film, Zero Dark Thirty, which will be released in December. 

The FOI release ruffled some feathers on Capitol Hill. Rep. Peter King was worried Bigelow and Boal were part of an "extremely close, unprecedented and potentially dangerous collaboration" with the CIA. Considering Washington is suffering from leak fever right now, Panetta was forced to respond. 

"I can assure you, I’ve asked the question," Panetta told the defense subcommittee of the Senate Appropriations Committee. "In this instance, no one, nobody released any information that was unauthorized."

According to Panetta, the Pentagon has an office set up specifically to deal with "people that want to do something about, you know, either a movie or a book or an article or something related to our defense." Panetta said the office works with everyone to make sure the information used is as accurate as possible. 

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