Senate Panel Investigating Contact Between Intel Officials And Zero Dark Thirty Filmmakers

A Senate panel has begun looking into whether the makers of Zero Dark Thirty, the film based on the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, had any 'inappropriate' access to classified information. According to Reuters, the Senate Intelligence Committee is reviewing contacts between intelligence officials and the film's director Kathryn Bigelow and screenwriter Mark Boal.

They will 'also probe whether CIA personnel are responsible for the portrayal of harsh interrogation practices, and in particular the suggestion that they were effective.'

Per Reuters:

The intelligence committee's Democrats contend that is factually incorrect.

Zero Dark Thirty is a dramatized account of the hunt for al Qaeda leader bin Laden and the May 2011 U.S. Navy SEAL raid in which he was killed. Government e-mails and memoranda released to the conservative group Judicial Watch show that both the CIA and Pentagon gave the filmmakers extensive access.

The film has drawn criticism from Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Carl Levin (D-MI), and Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), for ''grossly inaccurate and misleading in its suggestion that torture resulted in information that led to the location of' bin Laden.

Acting CIA Director Michael Morell also released a statement about a movie, saying, 'CIA interacted with the filmmakers through our Office of Public Affairs but, as is true with any entertainment project with which we interact, we do not control the final product.' It's a 'dramatization, not a realistic portrayal of facts,' he said.