Vice Presidential hopeful J.D. Vance slams plea bargain between US government and three 9/11 planners, including mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, calling it a ‘sweetheart’ deal for terrorists.
By World Israel News Staff
Three Al Qaeda terrorists captured by the U.S. and tried for their role in plotting the September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks have agreed to a plea bargain with the federal government’s Office of Military Commissions which will spare them death sentences.
The terrorists include Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who is believed to be the mastermind behind the 9/11 attacks, as well as two co-conspirators: Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak Bin Attash and Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawsawi.
According to the FBI, Sheikh Mohammed conceived of the 9/11 attacks in the 1990s, and proposed his plan to then-Al Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden.
Sheikh Mohammed also planned out details of the attack and helped train some of its perpetrators.
Hawsawi handled the finances and travel arrangements of the 9/11 hijackers.
Both Hawsawi and Sheikh Mohammed were captured by American forces in Pakistan in 2003.
Bin Attash helped plan the bombing of American embassy bombings in East Africa which killed over 200 people in 1998, the bombing of the U.S. Cole in 2000, and helped train terrorists who hijacked passenger planes as part of the September 11th attacks. He was captured in Pakistan in 2002 and transferred to American forces.
While the plea bargains were reached by the Office of Military Commissions, under the authority of the Defense Department, the Biden administration rushed to distance itself from the deal.
“The President and White House played no role in this process,” the National Security Council said in a statement Wednesday.
“The President has directed his team to consult as appropriate with officials and lawyers at the Department of Defense on this matter.”
Ohio Senator and Republican vice presidential hopeful J.D. Vance, who served as a corporal in the U.S. Marines until 2007, accused the Biden administration of giving the three 9/11 terrorists a “sweetheart deal.”
“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,” Vance told Trump supporters at a campaign event in Glendale, Arizona.
“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,” Vance continued. “We need a president who kills terrorists, not negotiates with them.”