Pentagon: Ex-SEAL faces legal action for book
WASHINGTON -- The Pentagon warned a former Navy SEAL that he faces legal action and loss of the profit for writing a book about the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, according to a letter released Thursday night.
The letter, addressed to Mark Owen, the pseudonym for Matt Bissonnette, alleges that he broke two non-disclosure agreements. He signed the agreements after leaving the Navy in April 2012 and in 2007, and they prevent him from releasing classified information.
It was sent to Bissonnette by Jeh Johnson, the Pentagon's top lawyer.
"I write to formally advise you of your material breach and violation of your agreements, and to inform you that the (Pentagon) is considering pursuing against you, and all those acting in concert with you, all remedies legally available to us in light of this situation," Johnson wrote in the letter, which was sent in care of the publisher, Penguin Putnam.
The book, No Easy Day, gives a first-hand account of the May 2011 raid that killed bin Laden, the terror mastermind. Bissonnette did not submit the book to the Pentagon for pre-publication review as required by the military, according to the Pentagon.
Dutton, the publisher, has maintained that the book does not disclose secret information. It goes on sale Tuesday.
It's unclear how far the military is willing to go in punishing a member of the team that killed bin Laden after a decade on the run. Two officials have told USA TODAY that prosecution is unlikely.
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