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Vice Presidential candidate JD Vance has criticized the Biden administration after the Pentagon’s offered plea deals to the perpetrators of the September 11 attacks.
What JD Vance said: In a statement, Vance said, “Just today, I heard that the Biden-Harris Department of Justice cut a deal with al Qaeda terrorist Khalid Sheikh Mohammed to avoid the death penalty. It was reported today. Now as someone who enlisted in the Marines to serve after 9/11, that is ridiculous but it’s not surprising. Now just think about the point that we’ve gotten to. Joe Biden, Kamala Harris have weaponized the Department of Justice to go after their political opponents but they’re cutting a sweetheart deal with 9/11 terrorists. We need a president who kills terrorists, not negotiates with them.”

More details on the plea deal: The plea deal involving key figures in the September 11 attacks—Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak bin Attash, and Mustafa Ahmed Adam al-Hawsawi—includes life sentences for the three defendants, removing the possibility of the death penalty. Announced by the Defense Department, this agreement was negotiated by military prosecutors without direct involvement from the White House.
White House responds: In a statement to the hill, National Security Council spokesman Sean Savett said, “The White House learned yesterday that the Convening Authority for Military Commissions made the independent decision to enter into pretrial agreements, negotiated by military prosecutors, with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two other 9/11 defendants. 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.”
Criticism from the Speaker of the House: In a statement, House Speaker Mike Johnson said, “The Biden-Harris Administration has done the unthinkable: they’ve agreed to a plea deal with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the mastermind of the September 11th attacks, and two of his accomplices. 23 years ago, America watched in horror as thousands of innocent Americans died. America mourned for weeks afterwards as first responders sifted through the ashes at Ground Zero, at the Pentagon, and at the crash site in Shanksville. For more than two decades, the families of those murdered by these terrorists have waited for justice. This plea deal is a slap in the face of those families. They deserved better from the Biden-Harris Administration.”