The Pentagon has threatened to take legal action against a Navy Seal who has written a book about the controversial killing of al Qaeda figurehead Osama bin Laden.
The US military headquarters said the author of No Easy Day violated an agreement not to divulge military secrets.
The book suggested that bin Laden was unarmed during the raid on his Pakistan compound in May last year.
The Pentagon's top lawyer, Jeh Johnson, wrote a letter to the author reminding the serviceman that he had signed two nondisclosure agreements with the US Navy in 2007 that obliged him to "never divulge" classified information.
Mr Johnson said that after reviewing a copy of the book the Pentagon concluded that the author was in "material breach and violation" of the agreements.
Johnson addressed his letter to "Mark Owen," using quotation marks to signify that this is the author's pseudonym.
Last week media outlets revealed Owens' real identity as Matt Bissonnette but he has since referred requests for comment about the letter to his publisher.
Mr Johnson wrote: "I write to formally advise you of your material breach and violation of your agreements, and to inform you that the department is considering pursuing against you, and all those acting in concert with you, all remedies legally available to us in light of this situation."
The White House released a photo of officials apparently watching the raid The Pentagon has not revealed how it got a copy of the book, which is scheduled to go on public sale next week.
It did not release copies of the nondisclosure agreements that it said Mr Bissonnette had signed, and Army spokesman Colonel Steve Warren said they were withheld as they include the author's real name and his signature.
In his book, Mr Bissonnette wrote that the Seal unit spotted bin Laden at the top of a darkened hallway and shot him in the head even though they could not tell whether he was armed.
Obama administration officials previously described that the Seals only shot bin Laden after he ducked back into a bedroom because they assumed he might be reaching for a weapon.
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