Osama Bin Laden's porn habits are likely to remain shrouded in mystery, as the CIA just this week denied a Freedom of Information Act request that sought to reveal the X-rated stash found when the terror mastermind was terminated.
In the days following the 2011 Navy SEAL raid that killed the al-Qaida chief, it was rumored that among the documents seized was a stash of pornography. Those rumors went unconfirmed until May 20 of this year, when U.S. director of national intelligence James Clapper confirmed that the materials procured in the raid included "some pornographic material."
"We are not going to release these materials due to the nature of their contents," Clapper’s spokesman, Jeffrey Anchukaitis,
told The Guardian (UK) at the time.
Less than a week later, David Covucci of BroBible.com, an online publication targeting young jockish types,
filed a FOIA request seeking to know what was in the stash. While making his request to the CIA, he did acknowledge that it was unlikely to be fulfilled.
"I imagine being under the constant threat of capture made you require some seriously graphic pornography to get it up. But the United States government isn’t going to let you masturbate like you’re the world’s most wanted man. Because of its 'nature,' the government is declining to release what was in OBL’s collection," wrote Covucci.
"I’m a man. I can handle knowing what kind of porn Osama Bin Laden watched. Ain’t gonna make me like him more, ain’t gonna make me hate him less," he added.
On Monday, Covucci reported that he'd finally received a response to his formal request.
"With regard to the pornographic material Osama Bin Laden had in his possession at the time of his death, responsive records, should they exist, would be contained in the operational files. The CIA Information Act, 50 U.S.C 431, as amended, exempts CIA operational files from search, review, publication, and disclosure requirements of the FOIA," the CIA wrote back.