Republican politicians are making it clear that they don’t like the Pentagon’s possible plea deal, which could mean that none of the 9/11 architects or co-conspirators will ever have to face the death sentence.
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-New York, sent a letter to Secretary of State Lloyd Austin on Monday, calling a possible plea deal “completely unacceptable” and saying it would not give the families of the dead “a full measure of justice.”
“Make no mistake, anything other than the death penalty for those who planned the attacks of September 11 would be totally unacceptable,” the letter says.
“These people have already lost loved ones. They shouldn’t also lose the chance to get justice in this case. The people who planned the attacks of September 11 are mass killers who deserve to die. In fact, if there are people on Earth who deserve to die, it is these five men.”
Cruz told the media on Tuesday that if the terrorist attacks are never brought to trial, “the American people and the victims of this horrible attack will not get the justice and closure they deserve.”
“Anything less than a trial and the death penalty would be a complete failure of leadership on the part of the Department of Defense,” Cruz said.
He also said that he and Malliotakis will “work to make sure that the Biden administration is responsive to oversight by Congress, especially when we talk about government funding.”
“It’s been 22 years since the terrorism strikes on September 11. My coworkers and I are telling @POTUS that terrorists who carried out those terrible acts shouldn’t be able to get plea deals. “These murderers deserve nothing less than the death penalty,” Malliotakis wrote on X, which used to be called Twitter, on Monday.
Brett Eagleson, the president of Justice 911, a community group made up of 9/11 survivors and families of victims, told Fox News Digital on Tuesday that it’s a good thing that lawmakers are raising concerns about the plea deal, but a lot more needs to be done to make sure justice is done.
“This is an absurd betrayal of justice,” Eagleson said of the talks. “This is all about them making plea deals, which would let these five prisoners avoid a public trial. As Americans, we deserve better than that.”
“We are families fighting for the truth and justice for 22 years. “Allowing these detainees to take plea deals is just another step in our government’s 22-year-long quest to keep secret the real facts about who did 9/11 and who helped the hijackers,” he said.
Cruz and Malliotakis sent a letter to the Biden administration last week attacking the possible plea deal. They did this with Rep. Mike Lawler, R.-N.Y., House Republican Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik, R.-N.Y., and Rep. Pat Ryan, D.-N.Y.
Families of the 9/11 victims got a letter from the Pentagon on August 1 telling them the federal government might consider a plea deal for “principal architect” Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and his four co-conspirators who want to escape the death sentence. The Associated Press found the letter first and gave a copy to Fox News Digital.
In response, more than 2,000 family members of people who died in the 9/11 attacks sent a letter saying that without a trial, it would “continue to keep the information given to Mohammed’s legal team secret and hidden not only from the 9/11 Families but from the American public as well.”
The talks have been ongoing for over a year and are still not over. There are claims that the CIA tortured al Qaeda prisoners at Guantanamo Bay by doing things like waterboarding. Concerns have been raised about how these claims could affect attorneys’ cases.