Ex-SEAL to pay $6.6 million to settle case over book

The Pentagon has dropped a claim against a former Navy SEAL who wrote about his experiences in the United States raid that killed Osama bin Laden, after he agreed to forfeit earnings from the book, his lawyer said yesterday.

In the past the Pentagon has threatened legal action against Bissonnette for alleged violation of non-disclosure agreements because the manuscript was not submitted for a pre-publication security review.

A group of former US Special Operations Forces and intelligence operatives offer their own take on Bissonnette’s memoir in their own account, “No Easy Op: The Unclassified Analysis of the Book Detailing the Killing of OBL”. It holds that Bissonnette must pay $2.76 million within 30 days, and an additional $1.38 million within six months.

Justice Department spokeswoman Nicole Navas said the agreement doesn’t discredit Bissonnette’s military service, but reinforces that service members comply with the non-disclosure documents they sign.

Bissonnette did not violate matters of national security but rather violated contracted non-disclosure agreements with the military, reports said.

“I acted on the advice of my former attorney, but I now fully recognize that his advice was wrong”, Bissonnette’s apology said.

The Department of Justice initially accused Bissonnette of violating national security laws when the book was released, though many criticized federal prosecutors since several other authorities and public figures have spoken out in length about the details of the raid that led to the death of one of the world’s top terrorists, accused of masterminding multiple attacks including September 11. “They were just upset with me and wanted to get me one way or another”. SEALs sign nondisclosure agreements about their work, and even beyond the legal ramifications of violating those agreements, former SEAL Team 6 members who speak publicly about their battlefield exploits are often ostracized by their peers…

In 2014, Bissonnette released a second book titled No Hero: The Evolution of a Navy Seal, which he did clear through the Pentagon.

He said in a statement that the last thing he had meant to do after serving 14 years in the military was to spend four years “at odds” with the U.S. government. “Now … one signature and it all goes away”.

According to CBS news, he said: “It was a serious error that I urge others not to repeat”.