Congressional lawmakers slammed a plea deal reached Wednesday that will spare the accused 9/11 mastermind and two alleged accomplices from death, calling it a “national disgrace” and a “total miscarriage of justice.”
“The Biden-Harris Administration’s weakness in the face of sworn enemies of the American people apparently knows no bounds,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said in a statement.
“The plea deal with terrorists – including Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks that killed thousands of Americans – is a revolting abdication of the government’s responsibility to defend America and provide justice,” the Kentucky Republican argued, noting that “The only thing worse than negotiating with terrorists is negotiating with them after they are in custody.”
McConnell, 82, lamented that the families of the victims of the worst terrorist attack on American soil will not get the “real justice” they deserve as a result of the plea deals.
“The families of their victims and the American people deserve real justice,” the senator continued. “In the same week that Israel eliminated some of Iran’s most trusted terrorist proxies, the Administration’s decision to spare these mass-murderers from the death penalty is an especially bitter pill.”
“Meanwhile, the Biden-Harris Administration still seeks to release other Guantanamo terrorists back into the world. The Administration’s cowardice in the face of terror is a national disgrace,” he concluded.
The agreement struck between the Convening Authority for Military Commissions and Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak Bin Attash and Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawsawi – who stand accused of providing training, financial support and other assistance to the 19 terrorists who hijacked commercial airliners and crashed them into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a field in Shanksville, Pa. on Sept. 11, 2001 – will allow the three men to skirt the death penalty, The Post has learned.
The White House said it was only informed of the plea agreement on Wednesday, with a National Security Council official telling The Post that Biden played “no role in this process.” The court proceedings are being handled through the military justice system.
Still, Biden had previously stated that one of his goals for his first term was to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility, which this agreement could help facilitate.
Former President Donald Trump’s administration had ruled out any plea bargains with the suspected terrorists at Gitmo.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) called the decision to enter a plea agreement with the 9/11 perpetrators “unthinkable”
“Twenty-three years ago, America watched in horror as thousands of innocent Americans died. America mourned for weeks afterwards as first responders sifted through the ashes at Ground Zero, at the Pentagon, and at the crash site in Shanksville,” he said. “For more than two decades, the families of those murdered by these terrorists have waited for justice.”
“This plea deal is a slap in the face of those families. They deserved better from the Biden-Harris Administration,” he added.
New York lawmakers were particularly outraged by the deals, with Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY) telling The Post that “any plea deal with the terrorists responsible for killing thousands of Americans including so many of my constituents is unacceptable.”
“We owe it to the victims, their families and those 9/11 heroes who continue dying today from related illnesses to pursue the death penalty,” she said.
Rep. Anthony D’Esposito (R-NY) told The Post that “the world would be a better place if these monsters were no longer allowed to breathe our air.”
“The terrorists responsible for the thousands of Americans murdered on September 11th should not be afforded an opportunity to live out the rest of their days at the expense of American taxpayers while the families of their victims are left to pick up the pieces,” he said.
The three terrorists are among the five suspected 9/11 plotters being held at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp in Cuba since 2006, awaiting trial for their role in the attacks that killed 2,977 innocent people.
“It is outrageous and unacceptable that the mastermind of 9/11 and two of his accomplices have been given plea deals,” said Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY). “This is a slap in the face to every family that lost a loved one on 9/11 and since, and to every survivor who continues to struggle with health effects from that terrible day, especially the brave first responders who rushed into burning buildings and toiled on the pile.”
“These terrorist scumbags must face the total weight of justice,” the congressman added. “And that means facing a potential death penalty through a proper trial. Anything less is a total miscarriage of justice.”
Sen. James Risch (R-Idaho), the ranking member on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the “Biden-Harris administration disappointed not only the families who tragically lost a loved one on 9/11, but every single American” by striking the deals.
“These terrorists committed the most heinous crime imaginable and for that they deserve nothing less than the death penalty,” the Idaho Republican said in a statement.