Voice
from Secret Mission
Former Navy SEAL Probed for
Possibly Releasing Classified Details of Bin Laden Raid
Dec 23, 2014, 8:00 PM ET
Robert O'Neill, a former
U.S. Navy SEAL, speaks at the "Best of Blount" Chamber of Commerce
awards ceremony at the Clayton Center for the Arts in Maryville, Tenn., Nov. 6,
2014.
Luke
Sharrett/Bloomberg/Getty Images
The Navy is
investigating whether a former SEAL who claimed on national television that he
shotOsama bin Laden may
have revealed classified information about the raid.
In November, Robert
O’Neill appeared on Fox News Channel to discuss his role in the raid that
killed bin Laden on May 1, 2011 in Abbotabad, Pakistan.
"The Naval
Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) is in receipt of an
allegation that Mr. O'Neill may have revealed classified information to persons
not authorized to receive such information,” said NCIS Public Affairs Officer
Ed Buice in a statement to ABC News. “In response, NCIS has initiated an
investigation to determine the merit of the allegations."
It is unclear how long
the investigation has been underway and who allegedly received the recipients
of the classified information he may have provided about the raid.
In November, O’Neill
appeared on Fox and gave an interview to the Washington Post where he discussed
his role in the raid and claimed that he had fired the fatal shots that killed
bin Laden. The special operations news website
SOFREP.com reported at the time that O’Neill was the SEAL who identified
himself as “the Shooter” in a 2013 Esquire magazine article about the raid.
O’Neill’s narrative of the raid is at odds with
that of former SEAL Matt Bissonnette who in 2012
wrote “No Easy Day” under the pseudonym of Mark Owen.
There have also been
suggestions that an unidentified third SEAL who participated on the mission may
have been the one who fired the fatal shot that killed bin Laden.
Bissonnette has been
under investigation by the Defense Department since his book
came out. At issue was whether he violated non-disclosure agreements he signed
while on active duty about his participation in classified missions.
His attorney told the New York Times in October that
Bissonnette was the subject of a criminal probe by the Justice Department.
Details of the raid
were confirmed by U.S. officials shortly after it occurred. The raid itself was
dramatized in the 2012 movie "Zero Dark Thirty."
O'Neill left the Navy
in 2012 and now works as a motivational speaker.
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