President Biden Rejects Plea Bargain Conditions for 9/11 Defendants
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has rejected certain conditions proposed by lawyers representing the defendants in the September 11, 2001, attacks, in a potential plea bargain. The White House National Security Council disclosed on Wednesday that Biden refused to guarantee that the five men would be spared solitary confinement and provided with care for the trauma resulting from their torture in CIA custody.
By rejecting the plea-bargain guarantees, Biden leaves it to military prosecutors and defense lawyers to negotiate an agreement. The terms being discussed involve the five Guantanamo detainees pleading guilty and serving life sentences in exchange for avoiding the death penalty.
The legal teams for both sides have spent approximately 18 months exploring a possible resolution to the case. Throughout that time, they have been waiting for Biden’s expression of opposition or support for the conditions demanded by the defense lawyers.
According to a National Security Council official who requested anonymity, Biden agreed with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s recommendation not to accept the proposed terms for plea negotiations. The official added that Biden was concerned about accepting the conditions offered by those responsible for the deadliest attack on the United States since Pearl Harbor.
The White House had initially refrained from weighing in on the matter, with Biden believing that the senior military official overseeing the U.S. military proceedings at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, should be responsible for the decision, according to another source familiar with the situation.
The group of five defendants includes Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who is accused of being the mastermind behind the 9/11 attacks. The plot, carried out by commandeered commercial jetliners, resulted in the deaths of nearly 3,000 people in New York, the Washington, D.C.-area, and Pennsylvania. The attacks had a profound impact on U.S. foreign policy, leading to military invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq.
Pretrial hearings for the five defendants have been ongoing at the U.S. military commission in Guantanamo Bay for over a decade, with no trial date set. The case has been complicated by legal questions surrounding the torture endured by the men after their capture in the immediate aftermath of the attacks, as well as the logistical challenges posed by holding the proceedings outside the United States.
The announcement of Biden’s decision comes after U.S. military officials notified a wider group of 9/11 victims’ family members about the terms of the ongoing plea negotiations. Several survivors publicly voiced their opposition to a deal that would spare the accused from a trial and the potential for a death penalty.
Brett Eagleson, whose father was killed in the 2001 attacks, commended the administration’s decision, stating, “We look forward to the day that we can praise our government for finally giving us justice and holding all parties involved in the attacks accountable.”