Officials at the White House, Pentagon and CIA eagerly cooperated
with movie producers who were expected to roll out a pre-election movie
about the successful mission to kill Osama bin Laden, according to a
cache of documents revealed by Judicial Watch.
“I know we don’t pick favorites but it makes sense to get behind a winning horse,” CIA spokeswoman Marie Harf wrote in a July 2011 email. The “movie is going to be the first and the biggest. It’s got the most money behind it, and two Oscar winners on board,” she added.
Tom Fitton, president of the Judicial Watch public-interest law firm, said Tuesday that the documents “provide more backing to the serious charge that the Obama administration played fast and loose with national security information to help Hollywood filmmakers.”
“These new documents show there is no doubt that Obama White House was intensely interested in this film that was set to portray President Obama as ‘gutsy,’” he added.
The emails also provide new evidence that officials provided the filmmakers with privileged access to at least one of the participants in the May 2011 raid, and guided the design of the set to ensure it match the interior of bin Laden’s hideout in Abbottabad, near Pakistan’s largest military academy.
However, the efforts won’t yield the administration any major benefits: The resulting film’s released has been delayed to December, many weeks after the critical November election.
“Zero Dark Thirty” is produced by Kathryn Bigelow, who won an Academy Award for “The Hurt Locker” — a film about a rogue, alienated bomb-disposal expert in Iraq. The screenwriter, who accompanied Bigelow to meetings with national security officials, is Mark Boal.
“I know we don’t pick favorites but it makes sense to get behind a winning horse,” CIA spokeswoman Marie Harf wrote in a July 2011 email. The “movie is going to be the first and the biggest. It’s got the most money behind it, and two Oscar winners on board,” she added.
Tom Fitton, president of the Judicial Watch public-interest law firm, said Tuesday that the documents “provide more backing to the serious charge that the Obama administration played fast and loose with national security information to help Hollywood filmmakers.”
“These new documents show there is no doubt that Obama White House was intensely interested in this film that was set to portray President Obama as ‘gutsy,’” he added.
The emails also provide new evidence that officials provided the filmmakers with privileged access to at least one of the participants in the May 2011 raid, and guided the design of the set to ensure it match the interior of bin Laden’s hideout in Abbottabad, near Pakistan’s largest military academy.
However, the efforts won’t yield the administration any major benefits: The resulting film’s released has been delayed to December, many weeks after the critical November election.
“Zero Dark Thirty” is produced by Kathryn Bigelow, who won an Academy Award for “The Hurt Locker” — a film about a rogue, alienated bomb-disposal expert in Iraq. The screenwriter, who accompanied Bigelow to meetings with national security officials, is Mark Boal.
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