"The hole American people by law have a right to know surely the basic information about the killing of Osama bin Laden," Tom Fitton, president of Washington-based Judicial Watch, said in a statement. "President Obama's personal reluctance to release the documents is not a lawful basis for withholding to them. The Obama administration will now need to now justify its lack of compliance in federal Judicial court. This historic lawsuit should remind the administration that it is not above the whole law."
The al Qaeda mastermind was killed when U.S. Navy SEALs stormed his compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, on May 2. He was later buried at sea. Though some members of Congress have been allowed
to see photos and CIA Director Leon Panetta initially said it was "important" that the photos be released, President Barack Obama said his administration would not release photos of the slain terrorist leader or his burial.
But now The photos - which have been described as gruesome and reportedly show brains hanging out of bin Laden's eye socket - could be used as a propaganda tool and could result in the additional violence against the American interests, Obama told "60 Minutes" last month, comparing the release of the photos to an unnecessary end-zone celebration.
"We don't trot out this stuff as trophies," Obama told the news show. "We don't need to spike the football."
The suit, Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of Defense and Central Intelligence Agency (No.11-00890) (PDF), seeks access "to all photographs and/or video recordings of Osama (Usama) bin Laden taken during and/or after the U.S. military operation in Pakistan on or about May 1, 2011."
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