Vance hits Biden over ‘sweetheart deal’ with 9/11 terrorists

Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) criticized the Biden administration over the plea deal it struck with three prisoners accused of helping to plan the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

“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, former President Trump’s running mate on the GOP ticket, told the crowd Wednesday during a campaign rally in Glendale, Ariz. “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,” he continued. “We need a president who kills terrorists, not negotiates with them.”

The agreement was reached between Mohammed, Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak bin Attash and Mustafa Ahmed Adam al-Hawsawi on Wednesday, the Defense Department announced in a release.

The three of them were charged jointly, along with Ali Abdul Aziz Ali and Ramzi bin al-Shibh in 2008 and again in 2012 for their alleged roles in the attacks on 9/11. Nearly 3,000 people were killed after the terrorist group al Qaeda hijacked two planes and crashed them into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center.

The Pentagon did not provide further information about the details of the deal. The New York Times reported that the three of them will receive a life sentence, but that the possibility of the death penalty is off the table.

The reported plea deal received criticism from other Republicans as well, including Speaker Mike Johnson (La.) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.).

“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,” Johnson wrote in a post on social platform X.

McConnell echoed the sentiment, calling the decision “cowardice.”

“The Biden-Harris Administration’s cowardice in the face of terror is a national disgrace,” he wrote on X. “The plea deal with terrorists, including those behind the 9/11 attacks, is a revolting abdication of the government’s responsibility to defend America and provide justice.”

National Security Council spokesperson Sean Savett said in a statement to The Hill on Thursday that the White House had no involvement in the plea deal. 

“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,” Savett said.

“President Biden has maintained an unwavering focus on terrorism since taking office, and he has directed the U.S. government to take action to protect the American people from terrorism time and again as we continue to work both unilaterally and with our partners to disrupt and degrade terrorist networks around the world,” he continued. 

Updated at 11:42 a.m. EDT