The House launched twin probes on Friday of the Biden administration’s role in a plea deal that allowed the mastermind behind the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks and two other terrorists to avoid the death penalty.
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) wrote to President Biden in a letter that the “timeline” of the negotiations for the plea agreement “falls entirely within your Administration” — but the White House Security Council claimed the president “played no role in the negotiations.”
“That White House officials and you, as President and Commander in Chief, would seek to distance your Administration from this decision is understandable given how absurd it is, but it is far from believable or appropriate,” Comer said.
“You are allowing these terrorists to avoid the death penalty, signaling to our enemies that the United States is reluctant to pursue full justice against those who attack our nation.”
The missive further notes the “complete lack of transparency regarding the deal” — as the terms of the plea deal remain unknown even after more than two years of negotiations that were ultimately signed off by senior officials in the Pentagon.
The Oversight panel has demanded by Aug. 16 all records related to the agreement — including potential communications between the White House and the Pentagon — between when Biden, 81, took office and the present.
House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) also wrote to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Friday demanding similar documents about the “unconscionable” plea deal.
“Since coming into office the Biden-Harris administration has pursued a reckless plan to close Guantanamo Bay detention facility,” Rogers told The Post. “In pursuit of this ill-conceived scheme, the Biden-Harris administration has released numerous hardened terrorists back into the world.”
“Now, we learn that they’ve made a deal with the depraved terrorists who planned the September 11th attacks, including the mastermind of the attacks, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed,” he added. “Let me be clear, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed should never be allowed to leave Guantanamo Bay, this terrorist killed thousands, he remains a clear and present danger to the United States.”
The Office of Military Commissions confirmed Wednesday it had entered into the pre-trial agreements with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the architect of the al Qaeda attacks, as well as alleged co-conspirators Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak Bin Attash and Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawsawi.
All three, who had been held in Guantánamo Bay since 2003, were spared the death penalty after pleading guilty to the killing of at least 2,976 people in the terror attack, according to a letter signed by Rear Adm. Aaron C. Rugh, chief prosecutor for the OMC, and sent to the victims’ families.
In the letter to the president, Comer quoted from The Post’s report on the shocking plea deal, in which retired cop Kathy Vigiano, wife of NYPD Detective Joseph Vigiano, said: “I am angry and disappointed that enemy combatants who killed thousands of Americans in our homeland are now able to exploit the US judicial system to their benefit, receiving support from American taxpayers for shelter, food, and healthcare for the rest of their lives.”
National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters in a Thursday press briefing that the White House “had no role in that process.”
“The president had no role. The vice president had no role. I had no role. The White House had no role,” Sullivan said. “And we were informed yesterday — the same day that they went out publicly — that this pretrial agreement had been accepted by the convening authority.”
He added: “What the president did upon learning of that was direct his team to consult as appropriate with officials and lawyers at the Department of Defense on this matter. Those consultations are ongoing, and I have nothing more.”
The plea agreement came one day before the White House announced Biden is “determined” to close the US military prison in Cuba after removing its 30 remaining inmate before the end of his term in January.
It’s unclear where Mohammed, Attash and al Hawsawi will serve out the rest of their life prison sentences.
Congress since 2018 has restricted the use of funds to transfer Mohammed in particular to the US mainland.
“I have served as a federal prosecutor and as deputy attorney general for criminal justice, where I oversaw the death penalty cases on appeal for the state of Texas. I also visited Guantanamo and saw KSM in his cell—a harrowing moment. I know from experience that if any case warrants the death penalty, it’s this one,” said House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-Texas) in a statement.
“Granting a plea deal that allows KSM and two of his accomplices to avoid the death penalty is an affront to justice and to the families of victims and the first responders who bravely served on that tragic day,” McCaul also said. “And just yesterday, the administration added insult to injury by announcing its intent to close Gitmo and presumably bring KSM and his fellow terrorists onto U.S. soil.”
“While the threat of global terrorism reaches its highest level in years, the Biden-Harris administration continues to project weakness and send the wrong message to America’s enemies,” he added.
