The Navy SEAL's controversial account of the Bin Laden raid goes on sale today. NBC's Danielle Leigh reports.
By Jim Miklaszewski and Courtney Kube, NBC News
Jewel Samad / AFP - Getty Images
Copies of a book by a former Navy SEAL titled "No Easy Day" are seen on display at a bookstore in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday.
The book written by a former Navy SEAL involved in the raid that killed Osama bin Laden does contain "sensitive and classified information," Pentagon Press Secretary George Little announced Tuesday.?However, he refused to say exactly what in the book is considered "classified."
"No Easy Day," written under the pseudonym Mark Owen, was set for release Tuesday and gives a firsthand blow-by-blow account of the killing of the al-Qaida leader more than a year ago.
Related: Ex-Navy SEAL sought advice before publishing book, lawyer says
Despite the claim that this book contains classified information, Little said at this time the Pentagon would not attempt to halt the sale of the book, released Tuesday, on U.S. military installations. U.S. officials tell NBC News the Pentagon appears powerless to stop the public distribution of the book.
Little repeated the claim that by writing the book, the former Navy SEAL is in "material breach" of a non-disclosure agreement which requires him to submit the book or transcript to the U.S. military for prepublication review if it contains classified material. In a letter to the Pentagon's Chief Counsel, Jeh Johnson, the former SEAL's attorney claims his client was not required to put the book through the prepublication process.
However, a senior Pentagon official claims Owen violated his obligations on three counts. He failed to submit the book for prepublication review, published classified information and revealed sensitive information about the SEAL's "tactics and techniques" in taking down bin Laden.
Related: Ex-Navy SEAL says book on bin Laden raid about 9/11, not politics
Officials at the Pentagon say it's not clear the Justice Department will pursue criminal charges against "Owen," but suggest the U.S. government could seize all money paid to the former SEAL and the publisher, Dutton, under the non-disclosure agreement signed by Owen before he left the Navy.
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