White House spokesman John Kirby dodged questions Sunday about the sudden reversal of a plea deal reached with plotters of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks last week. The plea deal was announced on Wednesday and quickly overturned by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.
Kirby told Jacqui Heinrich on “Fox News Sunday” that the change was not up to President Biden, despite waves of criticism from Republicans over the deal.
“This was a decision by the Secretary of Defense. It was his independent decision, certainly within his authorities, such as in the Defense Department chain of command,” said Kirby.
The plea deal would have guaranteed that accused conspirators Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak bin Attash and Mustafa Ahmed Adam al-Hawsawi would not receive the death penalty and would be transferred from Guantanamo Bay.
The three accused in the 9/11 conspiracy have been detained since 2003, caught up in pre-trial litigation. Mohammed, also known as KSM, is accused of being the main mastermind of the September 11 attacks.
Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, sent a letter Friday to Austin demanding answers about the appeals, calling them “a punch in the gut to many of the victims’ families ”.
“It is unfair for the Biden-Harris administration to allow such a plea deal,” he wrote in the letter. “His department allowed a plea deal with Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and his band of killers.”
Austin canceled the plea deals on Friday, a move that House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) praised.
The US last transferred a prisoner from Guantanamo Bay in April 2023, leaving about 30 prisoners at the facility. The US has already held 780 prisoners there.
In a similar case, the Department of Justice (DOJ) denied a request by Zacarias Moussaoui to serve the remainder of his life sentence in France, the New York Times reported Wednesday.
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
