The Biden administration has reached a plea deal with three defendants held in Guantanamo Bay for their alleged roles in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks that will reportedly spare the prisoners from the death penalty, the New York Post reported Wednesday.
The Department of Defense (DOD) announced that the government had cut deals with the three prisoners, including alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammad, who have been charged in connection with their alleged roles in plotting or financing the worst terrorist attack in American history. The deals will reportedly allow the defendants to dodge the death penalty, a punishment that many families of 9/11 victims have pushed for, according to the New York Post, which cited three unnamed family members of 9/11 victims who were informed of the deal’s particulars by the government.
The 9/11 attacks claimed the lives of nearly 3,000 innocent people, kicking off America’s decades-long war on terror in which thousands of American soldiers perished. The defendants are variously accused of providing material and logistical support to the 19 terrorist hijackers who perpetrated the attack, according to the NYP.
More than 2,000 surviving family members of 9/11 victims have previously lobbied the Biden administration to intervene and prevent any plea deal for the accused, according to The Hill.
“The Convening Authority for Military Commissions, Susan Escallier, has entered into pretrial agreements with Khalid Shaikh Mohammad, Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak Bin ‘Attash, and Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawsawi, three of the co-accused in the 9/11 case,” the DOD said in a statement. “The specific terms and conditions of the pretrial agreements are not available to the public at this time.”
The Office of Military Commissions confirmed to the Daily Caller News Foundation that deals have been reached, but “the specific terms and conditions of the pretrial agreements are not available to the public at this time.”
“The White House learned yesterday that the Convening Authority for Military Commissions entered into pretrial agreements, negotiated by military prosecutors, with [Khalid Shaikh Mohammad] and other 9/11 defendants,” a spokesperson for the White House National Security Council told the DCNF. “The President and the White House played no role in this process. The President has directed his team to consult as appropriate with officials and lawyers at the Department of Defense on this matter.”
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