Hollywood too close to CIA, security chairman says
Kathryn Bigelow, winner of best director, and writer Mark Boal, winner of best original screenplay, pose with their Oscars for The Hurt Locker at the 82nd Academy Awards on March 7, 2010, in Hollywood.
Weeks after Osama bin Laden’s death, Hollywood moviemakers toured CIA facilities and met with a Navy SEAL who helped plan the daring nighttime raid, newly released email shows, Agence France-Presse reported.
Buoyed by the new information, Homeland Security Committee chairman Peter King (R-NY) asked defense department officials why they granted movie producers access to potentially classified information.
“In my view, these emails raise serious questions regarding your central role in providing classified and sensitive information to individuals without appropriate security clearances,” said King’s letter to Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence Michael Vickers, according to AFP.
Producer Kathryn Bigelow and screenwriter Mark Boal are working on Zero Dark Thirty, a movie based on the Navy SEAL Team 6 raid that killed bin Laden last May in Pakistan, according to the Los Angeles Times.
They are the Oscar-winning team behind The Hurt Locker; their new movie is expected to be released in December.
More from GlobalPost: King demands probe into White House cooperation with Bin Laden raid film
Email between Boal and Vickers show they met the SEAL planner and toured CIA facilities 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,” Vickers told Boal, the LA Times reported.
King first raised questions about the meetings last year, and when the conservative watchdog Judicial Watch released the email today, it renewed his concerns, The Associated Press said.
The Pentagon defended itself, saying the meeting between the SEAL planner and producers didn’t happen.
A CIA representative also suggested nothing classified was revealed, and that government staff meet with entertainment industry representatives to ensure an accurate portrayal of staff and missions.
“The protection of national security equities is always paramount in any engagement with the entertainment industry,” Preston Golson told the AP.
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