House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Peter King (R-N.Y.) on Wednesday demanded an investigation into a report that the White House is cooperating with a film on the mission to kill Osama bin Laden.
In a letter to the Defense Department and the CIA, King asked for a probe and classified briefing about any cooperation or consultation between the agencies and the producers of the film, set to be directed by Kathryn Bigelow, who in 2008 made “The Hurt Locker,” which won six Oscars, including best picture and best director.
“The administration’s first duty in declassifying material is to provide full reporting to Congress and the American people, in an effort to build public trust through transparency of government,” King wrote. “In contrast, this alleged collaboration belies a desire of transparency in favor of a cinematographic view of history.”
White House spokesman Jay Carney called the claims “ridiculous” during his daily press briefing.
Carney said the White House is offering the same level of cooperation to the filmmakers as it does with other journalists.
“We don’t discuss classified information,” he said.
The spokesman also took a shot at King, saying he hoped that his committee would find more important things to do given that the country is fighting a war on terror.
Word of the Obama administration’s cooperation with Bigelow was first reported on Sunday by New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd, who wrote that the White House was hoping the film, set for an Oct. 12, 2012, release date, would boost Obama ahead of next year’s election.
Obama’s probably cooperated with these film makers more than he has the committee investigating the Operation Gun Runner (also know as Operation Fast and Furious).
Maybe a conservative film maker should start production of a film based on the ATF “Fast and Furious” scandal, in the same kind of vein as Fahrenheit 9-11, Nixon or even the perverse “alternate universe” ilk such as The Watchman with a plan to release just before the election.