A navy seal who was part of the team that killed Osama Bin Laden allegedly kept an unauthorized photo of Bin Laden’s corpse, The Intercept reported.
Matthew Bissonnette turned over a hard drive containing the photo to U.S. investigators in exchange for assurances that he would not be prosecuted for unlawfully possessing classified material. The federal government says it intends to keep the photo private from the public in order to avoid provoking an unnecessary situation, though days after the 2011 raid, bloody photos, including some showing the corpses of bin Laden cohorts, had been published by Reuters.
The author of the best selling memoir “No Easy Day,” who then went by the name Mark Owens, was under investigation two years ago for revealing classified information, according to The New York Daily News. The former Navy SEAL, is now being investigated for supposedly using his Navy SEAL title to illegally secure consulting work for companies producing military equipment, according to The Intercept.
Bissonnette’s lawyer, Robert Luskin, had given information to CNN about the retired Navy SEAL, stating:
“…government investigation into alleged mishandling or improper disclosure of classified information by Matthew Bissonnette was closed in August 2015 with a declination.”
Bissonnette’s book “No Easy Day” was a nightmare for the federal government. He had to give the government 4.5 million for publishing the book without prior clearance. He then sued his attorney Kevin Podlaski for 8 million for giving him bad advice.
According to The Intercept, Bissonnette also failed to separate his personal files from classified ones. Police had found other records that indicate the former Navy SEAL abused his power, which lead the investigation to expand. The investigation has since shifted to focus on Bissonnette’s unlawful business deals for military equipment, including gear that the elite squad used to kill the former al-Qaeda leader.
Ed Buice, a spokesman for the NCIS, told The Intercept that they cannot comment any further on the ongoing investigation.
Featured Image by Marion Doss via Flickr, available under a Creative Commons license.
