Rubio charges Obama administration 'trying to impress people' through bin Laden leaks

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said this week that recently revealed evidence filmmakers were given classified Pentagon information about the Osama bin Laden raid is part of a "troubling trend" of the Obama administration "trying to impress people" through security leaks.

"I think it's part of a troubling trend of chest-thumping, showing how smart and good our intelligence services [are]," Rubio said in a pre-taped interview airing this weekend on Bloomberg Television’s “Political Capital With Al Hunt.”

Watchdog organization Judicial Watch released emails this week from CIA and Pentagon officials that contained discussions about giving filmmakers Kathryn Bigelow and Mark Boal access to information for the movie they are making on the Navy SEAL raid that resulted in the death of al Qaeda leader bin Laden last May.

"I think there is a growing trend of leaks that threaten America’s operational capacity in the intelligence world," said Rubio, who sits on the Senate Intelligence Committee. "And I think if you look at some of the things that have found its way onto the screen, not just in the movie, but some of the specials around the anniversary of the bin Laden raid, I think one has to be concerned that that’s going to impact the ability to carry out similar operations in the future."

House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Pete King (R-N.Y.) said Wednesday that the emails showed a “potentially dangerous collaboration” between filmmakers and the White House that could harm national security. 

King first raised concerns last year over allegations that Bigelow and Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. might have been given access to high-level information in order to make the film "Zero Dark Thirty," which was originally set for an October 2012 release but has since been moved back to December.

The new documents indicate that options to give filmmakers access to a SEAL operation "planner" was discussed, but the White House and Defense Department have denied that any sensitive information was shared with filmmakers. Pentagon press secretary George Little told The Associated Press that the meeting between the planner and the filmmakers never actually took place.

The Defense Department's inspector general is investigating the allegations that classified information was improperly released.

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