Peter King hits ‘Zero Dark Thirty’ writer

Politico -- by Katie Glueck

Rep. Peter King on Thursday slammed the screenwriter of the controversial new film “Zero Dark Thirty.”

The chair of the House Committee on Homeland Security was asked on CNN’s “Starting Point,” to respond to screenwriter Mark Boal, who has cited politics in explaining criticism of the movie.

“First of all, who cares what Mark Boal says. He doesn’t decide what’s sensitive and what’s classified, so I don’t care what he has to say,” King said.

The movie, which is a dramatization of the raid that killed Osama Bin Laden, has come under fire from some for its depictions of torture and alleged use of sensitive information, sparking a Pentagon inquiry. Boal has said that he was attacked by Republicans for the film before he had “written a word.”

“For him to be criticizing me, somehow saying this is a Republican attack, no one gave Obama more credit that I did in taking out Bin Laden,” King (R-N.Y.) shot back. “What I’m talking about is pressuring special operators, people who put their lives on the line, pressuring them to cooperate with Hollywood producers,” he added, criticizing the access that some affiliated with the movie may have had to sensitive materials and to people at the CIA.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) has also been an outspoken critic of the film, joining Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Carl Levin (D-Mich.) in sending a letter to Sony Pictures Entertainment, bashing the film for highlighting use of torture and calling it “grossly inaccurate and misleading.”

“There is an investigation going on about some of the information that they used,” McCain said Wednesday on Fox News’s “On the Record with Greta Van Susteren.” “And clearly, I think they got the slant of those who are defending, in my view, what is unconscionable, and that is torturing people.

“I want to emphasize to you, Greta, that when it gets around the world that the United States of America tortures people, any information that we could gain from doing that — if we ever did — harms the image of the United States far more than the value of any information we might obtain,” he added.

Sony has offered a statement from Boal and director Kathryn Bigelow in response.

“One thing is clear: the single greatest factor in finding the world’s most dangerous man was the hard work and dedication of the intelligence professionals who spent years working on this global effort,” they offered in the statement. “We encourage people to see the film before characterizing it.”