Did White House Give Classified Osama bin Laden Info to Hollywood?

Obama administration insists no top-secret details were handed over for director Kathryn Bigelow's film revolving around the pursuit of the terrorist kingpin

The White House is feeling the hurt heat.

As director Kathryn Bigelow ramps up production on Kill Bin Laden, her upcoming film focusing on the military pursuit of the now-deceased Al Qaeda leader, President Barack Obama's administration is being accused of supplying Bigelow and her production team with "classified information" relating to the May mission that took down Osama bin Laden.

However, it's a claim that the folks over at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. insist is simply not true.

Rep. Peter T. King, who is also the chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, contacted both the Pentagon and the Central Intelligence Agency to look into the possibility that "ongoing leaks of classified information regarding sensitive military operations" had been given to the Oscar-winning Hurt Locker helmer.

King cited in his letter a recent New York Times column by Maureen Dowd that "the moviemakers are getting top-level access to the most classified mission in history." What's more, the Dowd piece suggested that Kill Bin Laden's scheduled release date of Oct. 12, 2012, will put Obama in a more positive light just weeks before the next presidential election, and thus explains the administration's willingness to cooperate with the filmmakers.

However, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said Wednesday that King's claims are "ridiculous" and that the administration had given those involved with the movie the exact same information that the media received following the bin Laden raid.

"I would hope that as we face the continued threat from terrorism, the House Committee on Homeland Security would have more important topics to discuss than a movie," Carney added during the briefing.

As for any political motivations when it comes to the flick, the New York Times posted a statement from Bigelow and screenwriter Mark Boal that reads, in part: "Our upcoming film project about the decade-long pursuit of Bin Laden has been in the works for many years and integrates the collective efforts of three administrations, including those of President Clinton, Bush and Obama...This was an American triumph, both heroic and nonpartisan, and there is no basis to suggest that our film will represent this enormous victory otherwise."