Rep. King Questions If Obama Admin Leaking Sensitive Bin Laden Info To Movie Makers
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Congressman Peter King is raising questions about a movie focused on the killing of Osama bin Laden. While the premise isn't in question, whether top secret information is being given to the film makers is.
LISTEN: WCBS 880's Steve Scott With Rep. Peter King
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The killing of bin Laden by Navy SEALs was a pivotal moment for this country and it's president that'll soon be the stuff of a Hollywood movie.
And that concerns Long Island Rep. King, who is demanding to know if the Obama administration is giving classified information to Sony Pictures and Kathryn Bigelow, the Academy Award-winning director of "The Hurt Locker," a gritty drama about military bomb squads in Iraq.
"There has been so much sensitive information leaked," Rep. King told CBS 2's Sean Hennessey on Wednesday night.
Bigelow's next project -- the decade long hunt for bin Laden -- is a movie set to be released just weeks before the 2012 elections.
"When you look at the whole totality here, it raises very serious questions," Rep. King said.
The chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee has written a letter to the Central Intelligence Agency and Department of Defense saying if classified information is being given to the movie maker it belies a desire of transparency in favor of a cinematographic view of history.
But Congressman Adam Schiff of California, a member of the Intelligence Committee, said Rep. King, a Republican, is playing politics and just wants to find a way to delay the moving until after the elections.
"It seems to be driven more about an interest on how this will affect the president's campaign than about the security aspects of leaks about the bin Laden raid," Rep. Schiff said.
"I want the inspector general to assure me and assure the Congress that there's enough precautions in place to make sure that no sensitive or classified information is going to be revealed," Rep. King said.
The White House said Bigelow and the company are getting the same access as anyone else.
"First of all, the claims are ridiculous," Press Secretary Jay Carney said. "I would hope as we face a continued threat from terrorism, the House Committee on Homeland Security would have more important topics to discuss than a movie."
The movie's director and screenwriter sidestepped questions about classified information, saying: "This was an American triumph, both heroic and non-partisan and there is no basis to suggest that our film will represent this enormous victory otherwise."
The movie's makers said the project will integrate the collective efforts of the Clinton, Bush and Obama administrations to find bin Laden.
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