WASHINGTON — The publisher of an insider account of the Navy SEAL raid that killed Osama bin Laden said Friday it will begin public sales next week despite a Pentagon warning of possible legal action against the book’s author and unspecified associates.
“At this time, we see no reason to change our plans,” said Christine Ball, a spokeswoman for the publisher, Penguin Group (USA)’s Dutton imprint, in a statement.
Before the Pentagon’s warning, Dutton had moved up publication to Sept. 4 from Sept. 11, saying that it was “important to put ‘No Easy Day’ on sale and let the book speak for itself.”
Pre-orders for the book have catapulted it to No. 1 on Amazon’s best-seller list. An initial print run of 200,000 has been increased to 575,000 copies.
It was highly unlikely that the government would try to halt publication of the book itself. Advance copies are already in the public domain, and media reports have summarized the book’s contents.
Pentagon press secretary George Little said the book’s author, former SEAL Matt Bissonnette, was in violation of two nondisclosure agreements that he signed in 2007 by failing to submit the book for an official security review before it was published. Bissonnette’s lawyer disputed this Friday, saying he thinks the decorated former SEAL has “earned the right to tell his story.”
Little would not say what legal options the Pentagon is considering or when it might take action.
Little suggested that the Pentagon might be satisfied if Bissonnette were to stop the book’s official release. The Pentagon obtained an advance copy last week and has since been reviewing it for any classified information and to determine what, if any, legal action should be taken, Little said.
“The onus is on the author,” Little said, but declined to spell out what the author must do.
Jeh Johnson, the Pentagon’s top lawyer, notified Bissonnette on Thursday that the Pentagon thinks he is in “material breach and violation” of two nondisclosure agreements and of a related document he signed upon leaving active duty in April.
In response, Robert D. Luskin of the law firm Patton Boggs wrote to Johnson on Friday that his firm is representing Bissonnette and asserting that he is not in breach of his nondisclosure agreements.
Little declined to describe the Pentagon’s assessment of the contents of the book, but he later said it had not reached “any final conclusions” about whether secrets were revealed.
