McRaven’s order to destroy the photos was first mentioned in a 2011 draft Pentagon IG report examining whether the Obama administration gave special access to Hollywood executives planning the film “Zero Dark Thirty.”

In February 2014 a FOIA lawsuit brought against the Department of Defense by Judicial Watch spurred the declassification of documents that showed U.S. Special Operations Commander, Admiral William McRaven, ordered the immediate destruction of any photos of the death of Osama bin Laden. The documents showed that on May 13, 2011, McRaven told subordinates, only hours after Judicial Watch issued a press release stating they would be filing suit for the records, that any photos should have already been turned over to the CIA –presumably so they could be placed in operational files out of reach of the FOIA (more on this terrible exemption[1] below) – and if anyone still had access to photos, to “destroy…