The House Oversight and Accountability Committee is investigating potential White House participation in approving a plea deal for three of the terrorists responsible for the 9/11 attacks.
Oversight Chairman James Comer sent a letter Friday to President Biden saying his panel wants documents and information to understand his administration’s role in “the ultimate decision to forgo seeking the death penalty for three individuals who are charged with, among other crimes, the murder of 2,976 people.”
“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 Kentucky Republican said.
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the slaughter’s mastermind, Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak Bin Attash and Mustafa Ahmed Adam al-Hawsawi have agreed to plead guilty in exchange for not receiving the death penalty. They will not be sentenced until a later date but are expected to face life in prison.
The White House has already denied involvement or even advanced knowledge of the deal, which the Defense Department’s Convening Authority for Military Commissions announced Wednesday.
“The president had no role, the vice president had no role, I had no role,” White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said Thursday. “We were informed yesterday the same day that they went out publicly with this pretrial agreement that had been accepted by the convening authority.”
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Mr. Sullivan said Mr. Biden ordered his team to consult with lawyers at the Defense Department and those talks are ongoing.
Mr. Comer cited Mr. Sullivan’s comments in his letter while signaling he doesn’t believe the White House would have been completely unaware of 27 months of negotiations and a deal approved by senior Pentagon officials.
“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,” the congressman said.
Mr. Comer said his panel is “also concerned about the complete lack of transparency regarding the deal,” the full terms of which have yet to be disclosed.
He asked for a slate of documents to be turned over to the committee by Aug. 15, including an unredacted copy of the pretrial agreements and any White House documents and communications containing the defendants’ names.
• Lindsey McPherson can be reached at lmcpherson@washingtontimes.com.
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