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FIRST ON FOX: Top Republicans in Congress are introducing a new bill to prevent the White House from offering plea deals to suspected 9/11 terrorists.
A pretrial settlement between the 9/11 defendants and the government eliminated the death penalty as a punishment possibility, but legislation spearheaded by Sen. Tom Cotton, chairman of the Intelligence Committee and Republican leader during a lot of time Mitch McConnell I would reset it.
The 9/11 Justice Act would prevent the military court from offering plea deals to the September 11 terrorists demanding a trial and ensuring that the death penalty remains a sentencing option.
Additionally, as President Biden reduces the prisoner population at Guantanamo Bay in his final days in office, the bill would also require defendants to be held on the Cuban island in solitary confinement and prohibit be extradited to another country.
Complementary legislation is being introduced in the House by Rep. Mike Lawler, RNY. Republicans now control both houses of Congress and soon the presidency, giving the bill a good chance of becoming law.
“That the Biden-Harris administration has offered a deal without the death penalty to the very people who planned the attacks that claimed the lives of nearly 3,000 people is a betrayal of our police officers, firefighters and victims of 9/11 9/11 and their families. The 9/11 Justice Act will overturn this horrific plea deal and prevent those who perpetrated this heinous attack from being offered in the future.” Lawler said.
BIDEN ADMIN SENDS 11 GUANTANAMO DETENTES TO OMAN FOR RESETTLEMENT
Khalid Sheikh Mohammad, 9/11 mastermind. (AP)
Trials for suspected 9/11 terrorists have dragged on for decades and, in many cases, never even begun because of administrative delays, debates over whether evidence obtained under torture is admissible in court, and the pandemic of coronavirus The plea deal was intended to quickly close three of the 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 farce and prevent the Biden administration from filling the ranks of our terrorist enemies later on their way out the door.”
“After the terrorist savagery, our obligation is to bring justice. No matter how long it takes, those responsible for 9/11 deserve nothing more,” McConnell added.
DEFENSE COURT OF MILITARY APPEALS RULES SEC AUSTIN CANNOT NULLIFY 9/11 AGREEMENTS
President Biden is trying to end operations at Guantanamo Bay on his last day in office. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
At the beginning of this year, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin sought to rescind plea deals for three Guantanamo Bay detainees, including alleged 9/11 architect Khalid Sheikh Mohammad, amid the backlash. However, last week, a military appeals court ruled that it could not take back the plea deals reached by military prosecutors and defense lawyers and that the deals were valid and enforceable.
The Pentagon has the option of going to the D.C. Circuit federal appeals court for an 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 punishment.
Hearings for co-defendants Walid bin Attash, an accused lawmaker, and Mustafa al-Hawsawi, accused of helping the hijackers with finances and travel, will follow next week.
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Biden has sought to end operations at Guantanamo Bay in his final days in office after a campaign promise to close the costly prison marked by a history of torture allegations.
The administration announced Monday the 11th that Yemeni detainees, including two alleged bodyguards of Osama bin Laden, would be resettled in Oman, after two decades without charges. The total number of men in prison is now the lowest since 2002 – just 15.
