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

[rooster59]

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

 

LOLITA C. BALDOR, Associated Press

 

WASHINGTON (AP) — The former Navy SEAL who wrote a book about his role in the raid that killed Osama bin Laden will pay the government more than $6.6 million for violating non-disclosure agreements and publishing without getting the document cleared by the Defense Department, according to federal court documents.

 

Matt Bissonnette, who wrote "No Easy Day" under the pseudonym Mark Owen, will give the U.S. government all profits and royalties from the book or movie rights. The proceeds already total more than $6.6 million. He will have four years to pay the bulk of that.

 

The payments were outlined in settlement documents filed in U.S. District Court in Virginia.

 

According to the settlement, Bissonnette also has 30 days to pay $100,000 from the proceeds of presentations he gave using slides that were not approved by the department.

 

The book triggered a Justice Department probe, including claims it contained classified material. Bissonnette had signed non-disclosure agreements during his service as a SEAL, and he took part in a number of highly secret operations including the bin Laden raid.

 

Under the agreement, Bissonnette said he would acknowledge he made a mistake by failing to submit the book for pre-publication review. And in exchange for the payments, the U.S. government has dismissed other liability claims.

 

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 has written a follow-up — also under the name Owen — detailing his journey as a member of SEAL Team Six. That book, "No Hero: the Evolution of a Navy SEAL," did go through the proper channels and a few sections were redacted.

 

 

-- © Associated Press 2016-08-21

[SgtRock]

Quote

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

 

 

Note the wording

 

Quote

The book triggered a Justice Department probe, including claims it contained classified material

 

I seem to recall about a million articles on unofficial personal servers, emails containing State Department classified information et al,  that are not just claims, but have been proven.

 

Clinton for POTUS, oh yeah 

[canuckamuck]

Maybe Hilary forgot to sign her non disclosure agreement? 

[tomwct]

And Hillary and Bill are still FREE & not in Jail!

[ezzra]

So he's gone from seal to nil dollars.... a true hero doesn't run to tell the world

of his deeds, I guess this guy isn't one of them.....

[NickJ]

Off topic a bit but that Chris Kyle story has turned out to be a Nightmare. Ventura wants to take the case all the way to the Supreme Court. 

[impulse]

1 hour ago, tomwct said:

And Hillary and Bill are still FREE & not in Jail!

 

Neither is this guy.  He's just not going to benefit financially from violating an agreement he signed.

 

Not a fan of Bill and Hill, BTW.  Nor am I a fan of the administration's increasing violation of our privacy rights and crusade against people who call out illegal acts of government.  But an agreement is an agreement, and unless he can show where he was whistleblowing about illegal acts, and not just cashing in on his classified knowledge (Edit: which, BTW, was not his to sell- just like the recipe for Coke doesn't belong to the guy in the bottling plant who makes Coke all day long), it's not in the same class as e-mailgate.

Edited August 21, 2016 by impulse

[SgtRock]

17 minutes ago, impulse said:

it's not in the same class as e-mailgate.

 

How correct you are.

 

Rightly or wrongly, this guys books pales into insignificance compared to transgressions of the chief of the State Department.

[Timebandit]

Lawless government scum.

[klauskunkel]

3 hours ago, SgtRock said:

 

How correct you are.

 

Rightly or wrongly, this guys books pales into insignificance compared to transgressions of the chief of the State Department.

Yes, he is an expendable ex-soldier who faces the full force of the law to deter any other simple citizen with similar aspirations, while she is an entitled aristocrat who can defy any law in her way with impunity, being protected by her peers who expect reciprocity.

Democracy at its finest - the 2nd amendment is making more and more sense.

[JetsetBkk]

5 hours ago, NickJ said:

Off topic a bit but that Chris Kyle story has turned out to be a Nightmare. Ventura wants to take the case all the way to the Supreme Court. 

 

Yes Ventura... nothing you can do, folks, although the Second Amendment people - maybe there is, I don’t know.

 

 

 

[Thaidream]

When you are in the Us military and are sent on a classified mission- what takes place is classified until the Government indicates it is no longer a secret. Many of the things that happen on these missions involve details that can provide an enemy or future enemy enough information to endanger people and a successful mission outcome. He knew the rules when he enlisted and was briefed and certainly knew the Bin Laden mission was Top Secret.

None of this has anything to do with Hillary Clinton or anyone else in power or seeking it.  There are many people out there who have done very courageous things for their country and don't talk about it. These people are self assured and their reward is knowing they accomplished a mission that saved lives.

[siamike]

6 hours ago, SgtRock said:

 

 

Note the wording

 

 

I seem to recall about a million articles on unofficial personal servers, emails containing State Department classified information et al,  that are not just claims, but have been proven.

 

Clinton for POTUS, oh yeah 

 

Comparing the SEAL's public publishing of a book to Hillary's private emails is like comparing hammers to apples.  The SEAL's book is meant to inform the general public of mission details, some of which may be classified.  He broke the law by not first allowing the government to review the book before he published it, whether or not the book contains classified information.  In contrast, all of Hillary's emails were sent to and received by, only those individuals who were authorised to see the information.  Hillary never intentionally or unintentionally disclosed classified information;  to this day, all of Hillary's emails in question remain unpublished.   

 

 

[SgtRock]

33 minutes ago, siamike said:

 

Comparing the SEAL's public publishing of a book to Hillary's private emails is like comparing hammers to apples.  The SEAL's book is meant to inform the general public of mission details, some of which may be classified.  He broke the law by not first allowing the government to review the book before he published it, whether or not the book contains classified information.  In contrast, all of Hillary's emails were sent to and received by, only those individuals who were authorised to see the information.  Hillary never intentionally or unintentionally disclosed classified information;  to this day, all of Hillary's emails in question remain unpublished.   

 

 

 

Another one who is absolutely correct. It is comparing hammers to apples.

 

A book that is written years after a specific operation, that uses  pseudonym's throughout, provides very little intelligence that could  be used by an enemy. By the time the book was written, the Operation was history and had been widely covered in the press.

 

I did not deny that he broke the law by by not having the book reviewed before publication.

 

In contrast Hillary, at the time Chief of the State Department.

 

1. There is a very good reason that the State Department provides secure means of communications for those that need them. Hillary broke the law as soon as the 1st State Department email went through her personal server.

 

2. You have documentary evidence that all her emails only went to people authorised to receive them ?

 

3. You have documentary evidence showing the recipients of the 100's of deleted emails ?

 

4. You have documentary evidence that her personal server has never been hacked and 3rd Parties do not have any of those emails, After all, cyber espionage is very big business.

 

Or are you just making a load of unfounded assumptions ?

 

There is a very good reason that the State Department carries out mandatory COMMSEC briefings, with attendance records being held on file.

 

They do not do this because they have nothing better to do and fill in a few slack hours.

 

Yes indeed, hammers and apples.

 

 

Edited August 21, 2016 by SgtRock

[jobsworth]

please could the americans who are contributing to this thread express themselves in simple english so that the rest of us can understand the points they are making. i for one cannot understand a word they are saying.

 

[WaywardWind]

1 hour ago, SgtRock said:

 

Another one who is absolutely correct. It is comparing hammers to apples.

 

A book that is written years after a specific operation, that uses  pseudonym's throughout, provides very little intelligence that could  be used by an enemy. By the time the book was written, the Operation was history and had been widely covered in the press.

 

I did not deny that he broke the law by by not having the book reviewed before publication.

 

In contrast Hillary, at the time Chief of the State Department.

 

1. There is a very good reason that the State Department provides secure means of communications for those that need them. Hillary broke the law as soon as the 1st State Department email went through her personal server.

 

2. You have documentary evidence that all her emails only went to people authorised to receive them ?

 

3. You have documentary evidence showing the recipients of the 100's of deleted emails ?

 

4. You have documentary evidence that her personal server has never been hacked and 3rd Parties do not have any of those emails, After all, cyber espionage is very big business.

 

Or are you just making a load of unfounded assumptions ?

 

There is a very good reason that the State Department carries out mandatory COMMSEC briefings, with attendance records being held on file.

 

They do not do this because they have nothing better to do and fill in a few slack hours.

 

Yes indeed, hammers and apples.

 

 

As concerns your #1, I think that the FBI, staffed as it is with trained investigators, lawyers well-versed in Federal criminal law, etc., and who examined this under a microscope, likely knows a lot more about the case than you do, and they found no laws were broken.

 

As concerns the remainder of you list, one has to ask exactly who it is that is making unfounded assumptions.

[SgtRock]

33 minutes ago, WaywardWind said:

As concerns your #1, I think that the FBI, staffed as it is with trained investigators, lawyers well-versed in Federal criminal law, etc., and who examined this under a microscope, likely knows a lot more about the case than you do, and they found no laws were broken.

 

As concerns the remainder of you list, one has to ask exactly who it is that is making unfounded assumptions.

 

Interesting that you would cite the FBI. Here is James Comey

 

Quote

Though highly critical of the “extremely careless” way in which emails were handled, Comey said the FBI would not be recommending that prosecutors seek charges in the case.

 

Extremely careless but we will not recommend prosecutors seek charges.

 

Hardly comes under the banner of innocent,

 

Quote

“Although there is evidence of potential violations of the statutes … our judgment is that no reasonable prosecutor would bring such a case,” said Comey.

 

Potential violations of the statutes but no reasonable prosecutor would bring such a case. Now, why would that be ?

 

And this is the absolute killer

 

Quote

Nonetheless the detail of the FBI’s investigation is likely to hit Clinton politically. Comey revealed that of the 30,000 emails returned to the state department, 110 emails in 52 chains were determined to contain classified information at the time they were sent.

Eight of those chains contained information that was top secret at the time, 36 chains contained secret information at the time, and eight contained confidential information, the lowest level of classification, he said.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/jul/05/fbi-no-charges-hillary-clinton-email-investigation

 

8 chains of emails classified as Top Secret

 

36 chains of emails classified as Secret

 

8 chains classified as Confidential.

 

Despite good Ol Hillary's constant denials that she ever sent any classified information through her personal server.

 

On a par with good Ol Bills '' I did not have sexual relations with that woman ''

 

The Teflon Clintons 

[Scott]

Continued discussion of Hillary Clinton and the email situation will result in suspensions.   It is off-topic and it is simply a deflection and trolling.  

[JHolmesJr]

9 hours ago, ezzra said:

So he's gone from seal to nil dollars.... a true hero doesn't run to tell the world

of his deeds, I guess this guy isn't one of them.....

 

He will fit in just perfect in pattaya.

[MiKT]

Did he ever get the medals he deserved for his long service, or were they all hushed-up?

 

He should have been more careful to get proper clearance, but his book gave away nothing of real importance that could hurt US  interests or cause harm to his comrades. POTUS himself described the Bin Laden event to the media almost blow-by-blow, let alone other written accounts. But unlike certain scum who run off to Russia and betray their countries secrets on Wikiwan..rs he is not feted like a hero of democracy.

 

Absolutely  disgusting way to treat a real hero.

 

 

 

 

 

[NickJ]

Wouldn't last long I would bet. Probably has one of those fatmas hanging over his head.

[boomerangutang]

I write books.  It would be cool to make a fraction of $6.6 million. 

 

Being a writer is a lonely endeavor and takes self-discipline; spending hours per week focusing on written words, not knowing if anyone is going to read it.   If people do read it, you rarely, if ever see/hear their reactions or get feedback.  It's not like being a stand-up comic where you get immediate reactions to what you put forth.  

 

Like with musicians, creative painters and craftspeople, it's not always the best who garner the most proceeds. Many of the most popular books are garbagio, and many unknown books are probably great reads.   As with success in other artistic venues, its 5% talent, and 95% publicity.  That's why we've all heard of Trump's 'Art of the Deal', but few have heard of better books written by unknowns.

 

 

 

 

Edited August 21, 2016 by boomerangutang

[JHolmesJr]

12 minutes ago, boomerangutang said:

I write books.  

 

Many of the most popular books are garbagio, and many unknown books are probably great reads.  

 

its 5% talent, and 95% publicity.  

 

That's why we've all heard of Trump's 'Art of the Deal', but few have heard of better books written by unknowns.

 

An amazing talent at shoehorning mr trump into just about any conversation….

 

don't lose heart just cuz you're an unknown….keep at it…you'll get there

[MiKT]

3 hours ago, boomerangutang said:

I write books.  It would be cool to make a fraction of $6.6 million. 

 

Being a writer is a lonely endeavor and takes self-discipline; spending hours per week focusing on written words, not knowing if anyone is going to read it.   If people do read it, you rarely, if ever see/hear their reactions or get feedback.  It's not like being a stand-up comic where you get immediate reactions to what you put forth.  

 

Like with musicians, creative painters and craftspeople, it's not always the best who garner the most proceeds. Many of the most popular books are garbagio, and many unknown books are probably great reads.   As with success in other artistic venues, its 5% talent, and 95% publicity.  That's why we've all heard of Trump's 'Art of the Deal', but few have heard of better books written by unknowns.

 

 

 

 

 

Um..........you don't suppose for one moment that's possibly because they are unknown. How do you suppose people can find the unknown?

 

NB. I have never heard of Trumps "Art of Anything" and I most firmly intend to keep it that way.

 

What has this got to do with the topic anyway?

[siamike]

20 hours ago, SgtRock said:

 

A book that is written years after a specific operation, that uses  pseudonym's throughout, provides very little intelligence that could  be used by an enemy. By the time the book was written, the Operation was history and had been widely covered in the press.

 

I did not deny that he broke the law by by not having the book reviewed before publication.

 

In contrast Hillary, at the time Chief of the State Department.

 

1. There is a very good reason that the State Department provides secure means of communications for those that need them. Hillary broke the law as soon as the 1st State Department email went through her personal server.

 

2. You have documentary evidence that all her emails only went to people authorised to receive them ?

 

3. You have documentary evidence showing the recipients of the 100's of deleted emails ?

 

4. You have documentary evidence that her personal server has never been hacked and 3rd Parties do not have any of those emails, After all, cyber espionage is very big business.

 

Or are you just making a load of unfounded assumptions ?

 

There is a very good reason that the State Department carries out mandatory COMMSEC briefings, with attendance records being held on file.

 

They do not do this because they have nothing better to do and fill in a few slack hours.

 

Yes indeed, hammers and apples.

 

 

 

Disclosing operational details of classified missions, no matter how old they are, is a very BIG NO-NO!!!   By detailing how SEAL teams operate, what weapons they carried, exactly how they cleared the compound and the structures,  etc., etc, the books author places all future SEAL missions at greater risk.  

 

As for your numbers 2 & 3, now you're just being silly,... none of should need documentary evidence to know how email servers function, & that they don't just randomly send your emails off to unaddressed recipients.

 

As for your #4,...after Trump encouraged all hackers to find Hillary's emails, and that none have publicly surfaced, I think it's a safe bet that the servers in question weren't compromised.