Documents show White House interest in bin Laden film

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Documents released by the Pentagon and CIA shed light on White House officials' interest in a Hollywood film project dramatizing the U.S. commando raid in which Osama bin Laden was killed.

The documents released to Judicial Watch, a conservative group, under the Freedom of Information Act and made public on Tuesday include emails between top Pentagon and White House officials discussing efforts to cooperate with film director Kathryn Bigelow and screenwriter Mark Boal on the bin Laden raid movie.

Some critics of President Barack Obama, including prominent Republican members of Congress, have cited the administration's cooperation with the filmmakers as part of an alleged pattern of deliberate national security leaks designed to enhance Obama's image as the election approaches. Obama has strongly denied his White House leaked sensitive classified information.

Documents published by Judicial Watch in May indicated that Bigelow and Boal, who were behind the Oscar-winning movie "The Hurt Locker," had engaged with the CIA and top Pentagon officials before getting involved with the White House.

The newly released material appears to affirm that, but also indicates that White House officials wanted to keep tabs on this and other major media projects about the bin Laden raid.