Top House Republicans Launch Review of 9/11 Plea Settlements

Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, sent a letter Friday to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin demanding answers about the 9/11 plea deals reached with three conspirators accused of the deadly attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people.

Rogers wrote that the settlement, including life sentences for 9/11 accused Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, along with two of his associates, “deeply shocked” him and was a “gut punch 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.”

Rogers demanded all information about the plea agreement, including negotiations and side agreements, along with communications from the Biden administration about the agreement.

Mohammad, also known as KSM, is being held at the Guantanamo Bay facility in Cuba. He and his alleged accomplices have been there since 2003 and were charged twice before a military commission, but never came to trial. Two other accused 9/11 conspirators are being held at Guantánamo Bay but failed to reach a plea deal with the US this week.

The post-9/11 US military commission has struggled to reach convictions. The only person convicted of a charge related to the September 11 attacks was Zacarias Moussaoui, often called the 20th hijacker. He was detained in August 2001, before the attacks.

Since the plea deals were announced on Wednesday, Republicans have criticized the Biden administration, accusing them of letting terrorists off the hook. Families of 9/11 victims also expressed their concern.

In Friday’s letter, Rogers said the plea deals “give hope to terrorists around the world that America is unwilling to hold the worst of the worst accountable for their vicious crimes.”

“In short,” he said, “this agreement signals a willingness to negotiate with terrorists who deliberately harm Americans.”

This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story