Ex-SEAL under investigation for Osama bin Laden disclosures

Matt Bissonnette, a former Navy SEAL who penned a best-selling book about the Osama bin Laden raid, now faces a criminal investigation from the feds for possibly disclosing information that was deemed classified, his lawyer said.

Mr. Bissonnette published “No Easy Day” under the pseudonym of Mark Owen in 2012. But the troubles he faces now are more aligned with speeches he has since given to various corporate crowds about his participation in the Team 6 capture of bin Laden, said The New York Times reported, citing sources familiar with the investigation.

One of his speeches was given at at golf club in Atlanta last year, during which attendees were asked to leave their cellphones at the door in order to keep his statements from being recorded, The New York Times said.

Mr. Bissonnette has previously apologized for failing to get his book vetted by the Pentagon prior to its publication.

And his attorney, Robert Luskin, said he was under the impression the Justice Department and Pentagon had agreed to a dispute settlement over the book disclosure, by forcing Mr. Bissonnette to give up some of his royalties.

But the Justice Department instead opened a criminal investigation in mid-2014, The New York Times reported. Mr. Bissonnette, meanwhile, said he’s curious as to why he’s being singled out for investigation, when plenty of others in the White House and military gave similar details for other books — and even Hollywood stories — on the bin Laden pursuit and killing.

“Matt is not complaining about the fact that he was required to follow the rules,” Mr. Luskin told The New York Times. “His beef is that others were not and that they were leaking prodigiously for their own purposes.”

Brian Fallon, a spokesman with the Justice Department, said he couldn’t confirm or deny the investigation. Mr. Bissonnette is due to release a new book, “No Hero: The Evolution of a Navy SEAL,” under his pseudonym Mark Owen, on Nov. 10, The New York Times reported.