The Pentagon has reportedly dropped a claim against a former Navy SEAL who wrote about his experiences in the U.S. raid that killed Osama bin Laden, after he agreed to forfeit earnings from the book.
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The US Navy SEAL who was sued by the government for publishing a book about the killing of Osama Bin Laden has settled his case, saying he is “delighted to finally put an end to a lengthy and painful chapter” of his life.
Bissonnette will pay the United States government some US$6.8 million (RM27.1 million) in book royalties and speaking fees, Luskin said.
The consent decree resolves four years of legal fights over civil allegations that the former SEAL had breached his contract and fiduciary obligations.
The book triggered a Justice Department probe, including claims it contained classified material. Bissonnette had signed non-disclosure agreements during his service as a SEAL, and he took part in a number of highly secret operations including the bin Laden raid.
The Obama administration had filed a claim against Bissonnette for publishing the book without Pentagon approval and violating non-disclosure agreements.
Ultimately, the settlement acknowledges that Bissonnette did not violate matters of national security but rather violated contracted nondisclosure agreements with the military, for which he will now pay the government back all proceeds, the Daily Beast explained.
Former SEAL on Bin Laden raid to forfeit book proceeds was posted in World of TheNews International – https://www.thenews.com.pk on August 20, 2016 and was last updated on August 20, 2016.
NPR added that the settlement was signed by Bissonnette, as well as officials from the Justice Department and lawyers in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia, where the Pentagon is headquartered.
The complaint does not accuse Bissonnette, a former U.S. Navy SEAL chief petty officer and member of the elite SEAL Team Six, of revealing classified information but does fault him for failing to go through the appropriate clearing process.
Matthew Scott Bissonnette wrote the book No Easy Day, a first-hand narrative about the mission which led to him shooting dead the al-Qaeda leader in Pakistan in May 2011. “They were just upset with me and wanted to get me one way or another”.
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