What Happened on the Third Floor | Matt Bissonnette | Ep. 458

Matt Bissonnette grew up in a remote Alaskan village, read every SEAL book he could find, and made it all the way to SEAL Team 6. Fourteen years in the Navy, 13 straight combat deployments, team leader at the command, and one of the operators on the third floor of the bin Laden compound. In 2012, writing as Mark Owen, he published No Easy Day — and spent the next decade paying for it. The DOJ came after him for skipping pre-publication review, took every penny the book made, and left him on a 15-year payment plan.

We get into what he actually saw that night in Abbottabad, the audio-recorded debrief, and why the competing narratives don't hold up tactically. Then the aftermath: 10-hour DOJ interrogations, being cut off from his own community, and getting to the point of putting a gun to his head.

We also cover the hypocrisy of leadership selling their own stories, the award system, funerals he couldn't attend, and why he's now raising Wagyu cattle and self-publishing his third book, No Easy Way.

No Easy Way

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Timestamps:

[00:00:00] Opening controversy and community fallout

[00:04:50] DOJ fight and publishing advice

[00:11:24] Legal costs and malpractice suit

[00:18:08] Transition stress and mental health

[00:23:44] New book review and redactions

[00:29:05] Anger, hypocrisy, and politics

[00:37:03] Publicity, media access, and integrity

[00:45:13] Farm plans and leaving service

[00:52:31] Funerals, grief, and suicidal crisis

[00:59:58] First book regrets and support

[01:08:38] Identity exposure and government pressure

[01:19:12] Bin Laden raid narrative dispute

[01:29:44] What he saw on target

[01:40:01] Helicopter crash and exfiltration

[01:52:53] Purpose, service, and identity

[02:05:11] Father’s influence and ranch life

[02:12:18] Service advice and family costs

[02:26:32] Post-service work and visibility

[02:41:18] Health, family, and future plans

[02:51:49] Mentoring, awards, and final reflections