What could possibly go wrong?, no one seems to have asked.

The former Navy Seal who wrote a book about his role in the raid that killed Osama bin Laden must now pay the US federal government more than $6.6m (£4.9m) for violating non-disclosure agreements and publishing without clearance from the defence department.

Matt Bissonnette, who wrote No Easy Day under the pseudonym Mark Owen, will give the US government all profits and royalties from the book or movie rights. The proceeds already total more than $6.6m. He will have four years to pay the bulk of that sum.

The payments were outlined in settlement documents filed in US district court in Virginia.

The book triggered a justice department investigation into claims it contained classified material. Bissonnette had signed non-disclosure agreements during his service as a Seal, and he took part in a number of highly secret operations including the Bin Laden raid.

Under the agreement, Bissonnette said he would acknowledge he made a mistake by failing to submit the book for pre-publication review. And in exchange for the payments, the US government has dismissed other liability claims.