Vice presidential candidate JD Vance and other U.S. lawmakers criticized the Biden-Harris administration on Wednesday for allowing three of the terrorists involved in the 9/11 attacks to make gentle plea agreements.
Prosecutors have reached pretrial agreements with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the 9/11 architect, along with Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak Bin ‘Attash, and Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawsawi.
In a letter sent to the families of the victims, the Office of Military Commissions (OMC) stated that “In exchange for the removal of the death penalty as a possible punishment, these three accused have agreed to plead guilty to all of the charged offenses, including the murder of the 2,976 people listed in the charge sheet.”
Vance blasted the Biden administration for allowing plea deal to go forward at a Wednesday night campaign speech in Glendale, Arizona.
“Just today, I heard that the Biden-Harris Department of Justice cut a deal with al-Qaeda terrorist Khalid Sheikh Mohammed to avoid the death penalty. It was reported today,” he remarked. “Now, as someone who enlisted in the Marines to serve after 9/11, that is ridiculous. But it’s not surprising.”
He condemned the current administration for being a “disaster for our country all over the world,” but was particularly incensed that they would take the death penalty off the table for the terrorists who have been languishing in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, for over two decades, while American’s await their trial.
“Now, just think about the point that we’ve gotten to Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, have weaponized the Department of Justice to go after their political opponents, but they’re cutting a sweetheart deal with 9/11 terrorists,” Vance seethed. “We need a president who kills terrorists, not negotiates with them.”
The defendants are charged with providing training, financial support, and other assistance to the 19 terrorists responsible for hijacking passenger jets and crashing them into the World Trade Center in New York City, the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, and a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, on September 11, 2001.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) called the Biden-Harris administration’s willingness to bargain “a revolting abdication of the government’s responsibility to defend America and provide justice.”
“The Biden-Harris Administration’s weakness in the face of sworn enemies of the American people apparently knows no bounds,” he said in statement on Wednesday.
“The only thing worse than negotiating with terrorists is negotiating with them after they are in custody. The families of their victims and the American people deserve real justice.”
McConnell pointed out that it’s an “especially bitter pill” to swallow, when the decision to spare the three “mass-murderers from the death penalty,” came the same week that Israel took out top leaders of Hamas.
On Tuesday, Israel killed a top Hezbollah commander, who was reportedly behind the rocket strike that killed 12 children over the weekend, in an airstrike in Lebanon’s capital.
On Wednesday, they assassinated Hamas’ top political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, in a predawn airstrike in the Iranian capital.
“Meanwhile, the Biden-Harris Administration still seeks to release other Guantanamo terrorists back into the world,” McConnell concluded. “The Administration’s cowardice in the face of terror is a national disgrace.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) posted on social media, “The Biden-Harris Administration has done the unthinkable: they’ve agreed to a plea deal with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the mastermind of the September 11th attacks, and two of his accomplices.”
“23 years ago, America watched in horror as thousands of innocent Americans died,” he wrote. “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 that the plea deal “is a slap in the face” to the families the people that were murdered, who have “waited for justice” for over two decades.
“They deserved better from the Biden-Harris Administration,” Johnson concluded.
New York lawmakers were particularly disturbed by the Biden administration’s decision.
Republican New York Rep. Mike Lawler also called the plea deals aslap in the face to the families and survivors of September 11, 2001.
“Disgusting that these terrorist scumbags are being let off without a trial. 9/11 victims, their families, and our heroic first responders deserve true justice!” he tweeted.
Fellow New York Republican Rep. Nicole Malliotakis termed the plea deal “unacceptable.”
Malliotakis tweeted, “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 to suffer and die from related illnesses to pursue the death penalty,” she added.
“The world would be a better place if these monsters were no longer allowed to breathe our air,” Rep. Anthony D’Esposito (R-NY) commented.
“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.”
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) also criticized the Biden-Harris Administration’s controversial move.
“If you’re looking for weird, this is it. When you think it can’t get any worse, it just did. It is outrageous that the Biden-Harris Administration has entered into a plea deal with the mastermind of 9/11 and his accomplices,” he tweeted on Wednesday.
“This decision is an outrage, shortsighted, and will only cause more problems for our country,” he noted.
The White House claimed that they were told about the plea agreement on Wednesday. A National Security Council official told The New York Post that the administration had “no role in this process.”
In September, Biden shot down a plea deal that would have taken the death penalty off the table for the 9/11 terrorists.
ALL 9/11 victims should sue A-Z
Those who died & died since 9/11