(GoRealNewsNow.com) – After facing widespread backlash for preventing terrorists from receiving the death penalty, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin revoked a plea deal with the accused mastermind of the 9/11 attacks and two alleged accomplices.
Austin took charge of the military commissions at Guantanamo Bay, removing the current overseer.
In a memo, he said, “I have determined that, in light of the significance of the decision to enter into pre-trial agreements with the accused in the above-referenced case, responsibility for such a decision should rest with me as the superior convening authority under the Military Commissions Act of 2009.”
“Effective immediately, I hereby withdraw your authority in the above-referenced case to enter into a pre-trial agreement and reserve such authority to myself,” Austin continued.
He added, “Effective immediately, in the exercise of my authority, I hereby withdraw from the three pre-trial agreements that you signed on July 31, 2024, in the above-referenced case.”
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is believed to be the main conspirator behind al-Qaeda’s 2001 attacks on the U.S., with two others having agreed to plead guilty in a deal with the U.S. military justice system.
According to a letter from prosecutors to families of 9/11 victims, Mohammed and his accomplices, Walid bin Attash and Mustafa al-Hawsawi, would have avoided the death penalty and faced up to life in prison.
Prosecutor Aaron C. Rugh wrote, “In exchange for the removal of the death penalty as a possible punishment, these three accused have agreed to plead guilty to all of the charged offenses, including the murder of the 2,976 people listed in the charge sheet.”
However, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) criticized the deal, underscoring that “the plea deal with terrorists — including Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks that killed thousands of Americans — is a revolting abdication of the government’s responsibility to defend America and provide justice.”
He also said that the only thing worse than negotiating with terrorists was negotiating with them after they were in custody while emphasizing that the administration’s decision to spare these mass murderers from the death penalty is an especially bitter pill.
Additionally, a National Security Council spokesperson said Joe Biden learned of the agreements and emphasized that Biden and the White House “played no role in this process.”
Copyright 2024, GoRealNewsNow.com