Pentagon Threatens Legal Action Against Ex-SEAL For Bin Laden Book (Report)

No Easy Day, a controversial book about the killing of Osama Bin Laden by an ex-Navy SEAL involved in the mission, is drawing the attention of Pentagon lawyers, according to a report by Reuters.

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The book is set to be released on Sept. 4, less than a month after it was announced by Dutton with a Sept. 11 publication date. The publisher advanced it a week amidst a wave of publicity.

The book is described as a first hand account of the killing by a SEAL who was on the ground in Bin Laden's compound in AbbottabadPakistan. Early leaks suggest the book differs from official accounts in important ways, alleging that the terrorist leader was not reaching for a gun when American soldiers shot him.

Now Reuters reports that the Pentagon is considering legal action against Matt Bissonnette, the SEAL who wrote the book under the pen name Mark Owen, for breaking a non-disclosure agreement he signed with the Navy.

The news service quotes a letter from Pentagon lawyer Jeh Johnson arguing, "In the judgment of the Department of Defense, you are in material breach and violation of the non-disclosure agreements you signed. Further public dissemination of your book will aggravate your breach and violation of your agreements."

The controversy over the book and its author boosted No Easy Day to the top of Amazon's sales chart in the week before publication.

Steven Spielberg denied a report that he was considering adapting the book for film.

Kathryn Bigelow's movie about the raid, Zero Dark Thirty, which itself has been the subject of debate about its sources and potential impact on the election, is scheduled for release in Dec.