what happened to the members of the seal team that killed bin laden
Ex-SEAL Member Who Wrote Book on Bin Laden Raid Forfeits $half dozen.8 Million
Matt Bissonnette, a former member of Navy SEAL Team six who wrote an account of the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, agreed on Friday to forfeit $6.viii one thousand thousand in volume royalties and speaking fees and apologized for failing to articulate his disclosures with the Pentagon, according to federal court documents.
Mr. Bissonnette also recently forfeited $180,000 in fees for consulting work that he did for war machine contractors while he was still on the SEAL team, his lawyer, Robert D. Luskin, said in an interview.
If approved past a federal judge in Alexandria, Va., the royalty settlement would bring an end to more than two years of ceremonious and criminal investigations into Mr. Bissonnette, who won several awards for valor in Iraq and Transitional islamic state of afghanistan earlier writing "No Easy Day," his best-selling book on the Bin Laden raid, nether the pen name Marking Owen.
The immediate account of the daring raid was one of several loftier-profile books and movies involving former Navy SEALS that has led to criticism inside a customs once known for discretion that Mr. Bissonnette and the others were cashing in on their exploits.
The Justice Department conducted criminal investigations into whether Mr. Bissonnette had disclosed classified information in his book or speeches and whether he had violated conflict-of-interest laws in consulting for companies that had contracts with SEAL Team 6. In the end, the section did not bring any criminal charges, settling instead for the greenbacks forfeitures.
Mr. Bissonnette said in a statement Fri that he regretted his failure to submit "No Easy Day" for vetting before it was published in 2012 so Pentagon officials could ensure that it did not include classified data. Mr. Bissonnette best-selling that he was required under his security clearances to let the Pentagon review the book, and he blamed another lawyer for advising him that he did non need to exercise so.
"I acknowledge my mistake and have paid a strong price, both personally and financially, for that error," he said. "I accept responsibility for failing to submit the book for review and apologize sincerely for my oversight."
Documents filed in Federal District Courtroom in Alexandria on Friday indicated that Mr. Bissonnette must transfer nearly $vi.viii one thousand thousand to the government as office of the settlement. The amount includes all of the $half dozen.7 one thousand thousand in royalties he has earned on "No Easy Day," equally well equally $100,000 in fees for 6 speeches he gave in early on 2013 before the government canonical the slides he used in such presentations.
Mr. Bissonnette wrote in "No Easy Twenty-four hours" that he was one of the SEALs who shot Bin Laden, and he and Robert O'Neill, some other former SEAL Team 6 fellow member who claims his shots were the fatal ones, take competed on the lecture circuit. Armed services officials said that Mr. O'Neill is writing a book of his ain and has asked the Pentagon to vet information technology.
While Mr. Bissonnette's fight with the Pentagon over his book has received public attention, some details of his consulting work while he was still a SEAL Squad 6 fellow member, also as his fee forfeiture, take not been disclosed.
Mr. Luskin said that Mr. Bissonnette and the federal authorities reached a "nonprosecution agreement" in May in which Mr. Bissonnette forfeited $180,000 in fees for advising three equipment manufacturers who were doing business with SEAL Squad 6 while he was on the team.
Mr. Luskin said the fees dated back as far as 2006, when Mr. Bissonnette was the research and development representative for his squadron within Team half-dozen. Other former SEAL members have said that his job was to figure out what types of equipment they needed.
Mr. Luskin said that the $180,000 came from Ops-Core, a helmet maker now endemic by the Gentex Corporation in Carbondale, Pa., and two tactical-gear manufacturers based in Virginia Embankment — S&South Precision and London Span Trading.
No executives at the three companies were available for comment.
Mr. Luskin said that Mr. Bissonnette and other SEAL members also received consulting fees from companies that designed tactical clothing and gear for other parts of the military or for sales to outdoor enthusiasts.
Mr. Bissonnette has maintained that he cleared the consulting piece of work in advance with a Navy lawyer, and Mr. Luskin said that helped persuade prosecutors that "there was clearly on Matt'due south part no intent to breach the conflict-of-interest laws." Navy officials say they take restricted such moonlighting since then.
Mr. Luskin also noted that a number of high-level officials accept assisted other authors writing most the Bin Laden raid too every bit the creators of the movie "Zero Dark 30." Merely, he said, just Mr. Bissonnette has paid any penalties for the disclosures.
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/20/us/bin-laden-book-seal-team-6.html
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