White House: No decision on releasing bin Laden photos

The White House is knocking down reports that President Obama has decided to release gruesome photos of Osama bin Laden after his death.

The Drudge Report, a conservative-leaning news site and aggregator, is trumpeting word that Mr. Obama will release at least one "graphic" photo, adding that "one image shows a bullet wound to his head above his left eye."

National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor said in an email to reporters that "there is no update on the decision to release the photos. I have no idea what the Drudge thing is based on."

"I understand there is a lot of interest in this decision, but it's very difficult to provide constant guidance or updates," he added. "I promise that if or when there's more to say, we'll let you know."

The White House is facing pressure to release visual evidence that bin Laden is dead amid skepticism at home and abroadover whether the al Qaeda leader has in fact been killed.

White House counter-terrorism adviser John Brennan said Monday there are "upsides and downsides" to releasing visual evidence. While such evidence could quiet the skeptics, Brennan cautioned that "you want to make sure that you're not doing anything to expose something that will limit your ability to use [certain] intelligence sources and capabilities in the future."

The potentially-gruesome nature of any photographs -- and the fact that bin Laden could be hard to identify after being shot in the face -- also complicates the calculus.