It is “ridiculous” to think that White House officials are providing extra help to Hollywood producers working on a movie about President Barack Obama’s successful killing of Osama bin Laden, spokesman Jay Carney declared today.
“We do our best to accommodate them to make sure the facts are correct,” he said at his midday press conference. “That is hardly a novel approach.”
The response came after New York Rep. Peter King, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, urged an investigation into reports the administration granted Sony Pictures director Kathryn Bigelow “high-level access” for a movie about the killing of the Islamic terror chief.
The move is slated to open in theaters one month before Election Day 2012, and is likely to focus attention on Obama’s actions prior to the mission, which temporarily bumped the president’s approval rating over 50 percent.
“The White House is also counting on the … big-screen version of the killing of bin Laden to counter Obama’s growing reputation as ineffectual,” New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd wrote on Saturday. “Just as Obamaland was hoping, the movie is scheduled to open on Oct. 12, 2012 — perfectly timed to give a home-stretch boost to a campaign that has grown tougher.”
King sent a letter Aug. 9 to the Pentagon’s Inspector General, Gordon Heddell and to CIA Inspector General David Buckley, suggesting the administration’s cooperation may undermine secrecy and the military’s ability to conduct future clandestine strikes.
Carney, however, dismissed King’s concerns. “I would hope the Homeland Security Committee would have more important topics to discuss than a movie,” he told reporters on Tuesday. “We do not discuss classified information.”