Several lawmakers slammed the Biden administration following reports on Wednesday that the alleged mastermind of the 9/11 attacks had reached a plea deal, the New York Post reported.
The lawmakers criticized a plea deal that spared the 9/11 terrorist mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two alleged accomplices the death penalty. Lawmakers across the political spectrum have called the deal, which spares three men the death penalty, a “national disgrace” and a “complete miscarriage of justice.”
9/11 mastermind KSM and two other terrorists awaiting trial at Guantanamo Bay agree to plea deals https://t.co/NoJu2IjfLM pic.twitter.com/ogleE9YwR4
— New York Post (@nypost) July 31, 2024
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., accused the Biden-Harris administration of being weak on America's enemies. “Plea deals with terrorists, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks that killed thousands of Americans, are an abhorrent abdication of our government's responsibility to protect America and deliver justice,” McConnell told the New York Post. report.
“Meanwhile, the Biden-Harris administration is still trying to release other terrorists from Guantanamo into the world. The administration's cowardice on the subject of terrorism is a national disgrace.”
New York Republican Rep. Nicole Malliotakis called the plea deal “a slam.unacceptable” He stressed the need to seek the death penalty for those responsible for the 9/11 attacks.
Any plea deal with a terrorist who murdered thousands of Americans, including many of my constituents, is unacceptable. We have an obligation to pursue the death penalty for the victims, their families, and the 9/11 heroes who continue to suffer and die from related illnesses… pic.twitter.com/w6oNLmgfQX
— Office of Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (@RepMalliotakis) July 31, 2024
Republican New York Assemblyman Mike Lawler called the plea deal an affront to the families and survivors of 9/11: “It's outrageous that these terrorist scum were released without a trial. The 9/11 victims, their families, and our heroic first responders deserve real justice!” Posts On Twitter. (Related article: Biden administration terminates plea deals with 9/11 Guantanamo Bay prisoners, death penalty not under consideration)
Republican Sen. James Risch of Idaho also denounced the deal, saying it failed not only the families of 9/11 victims but all Americans. “These terrorists committed the most heinous crimes imaginable, and for that they deserve the death penalty,” Risch said, according to the New York Post.
According to the New York Post, the White House clarified that President Joe Biden was only informed of the plea deal on Wednesday and was not involved in the process. Plea deals are handled through the military justice system. Former President Donald Trump's administration had previously refused to offer plea deals to terrorism suspects held at Guantanamo Bay.
