FIRST ON FOX: Top Republicans in Congress are introducing a new bill to prevent the White House from offering plea deals to 9/11 terror suspects.
A pretrial agreement between the 9/11 defendants and the government removed the death penalty as a punishment option, but legislation led by Sens. Tom Cotton, chairman of the Intelligence Committee and longtime Republican leader Mitch McConnell would reestablish it.
The 9/11 Justice Act would prevent a military court from offering plea bargains the 9/11 terrorists requiring a trial and ensuring that the death penalty remains an option at sentencing.
In addition, as President Biden reduces the number of detainees at Guantanamo Bay in the final days of his term, the bill would also require the defendants to be held on the Cuban island in solitary confinement and would bar their extradition to another country.
Rep. Mike Lawler, RN.Y., is introducing companion bills in the House of Representatives. Republicans are now in control both houses of Congress, and soon the presidency, giving the bill a good chance of becoming law.
“For the Biden-Harris administration to offer a plea deal without the death penalty to the very people who planned the attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people is a betrayal of our police officers, firefighters and 9/11 victims and their families. Justice for 9/11 The act will reverse this horrific plea deal and prevent any future ones from being offered to those who committed this heinous attack,” Lawler said.
BIDEN ADMIN SENDS 11 GUANTANAMA PRISONERS TO OMAN FOR RESETTLEMENT
Khalid Sheikh Mohammad, the mastermind of 9/11. (AP)
Trials of 9/11 terror suspects have dragged on for decades, and in many cases have not even begun due to administrative delays, debate over whether evidence obtained through torture is admissible in court, and the coronavirus pandemic. The plea deal was supposed to quickly end the three cases without a trial.
“These monsters should have faced justice decades ago; instead, Joe Biden set the stage to let them go free,” Cotton, R-Ark., said in a statement. “My bill will stop this travesty and prevent the Biden administration from further filling the ranks of our terrorist enemies on his way out.”
“In light of the terrorist atrocity, it is our obligation to deliver justice. However long it takes, those responsible for 9/11 deserve nothing more,” McConnell added.
MILITARY APPEALS COURT RULES DEFENSE DECISION SEC AUSTIN CAN’T REVERSE 9/11 PLEA AGREEMENT
President Biden is trying to shut down operations at Guantanamo Bay on his last day in office. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Earlier this year, Minister of Defense Lloyd Austin tried to overturn plea deals for three Guantanamo Bay detainees, including alleged 9/11 architect Khalid Sheikh Mohammad, amid backlash. However, last week, a military appeals court ruled that he could not withdraw the deals reached by military prosecutors and defense lawyers, and that the deals were valid and enforceable.
The Pentagon has the option of appealing to the federal appeals court for the D.C. Circuit for emergency review, but so far there is no indication that they have done so.
A hearing is scheduled for later this week at Guantanamo Baywhere Mohammad and two other defendants could plead guilty in separate hearings, with the death penalty removed as a possible penalty.
Co-defendants Walid bin Attash, the accused deputy, and Mustafa al-Hawsawi, accused of helping the kidnappers with finances and travel, will be heard next week.
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Biden sought to shut down operations at Guantanamo Bay in his final days in office after a campaign promise to close the expensive prison marred by a history of torture allegations.
The administration announced Monday that 11 Yemeni detainees, including two alleged bodyguards of Osama bin Laden, will be relocated to Oman after being held without charge for two decades. The total number of men in prison is now the lowest since 2002 – just 15.
