Biden-Harris administration rescinds 9/11 plea deal after backlash, fires senior official who proposed it

The Biden-Harris administration has rescinded a stunning plea deal reached this week with the terrorists responsible for the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States — and removed from his post the senior U.S. official who proposed the deal.

Retired Brigadier General Susan K. Escallier, who was overseeing the trial at the Guantanamo war tribunal, was relieved of her duties by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin after her team reached pretrial agreements with 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak Bin ‘Attash and Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawsawi.

The deal allowed the terrorists to escape the death penalty in exchange for a guilty plea to the murders of 2,976 people and a life sentence.

By removing Escallier, Austin took authority over the case and immediately rescinded the deal, meaning the death penalty is back on the table after days of public backlash against the Biden-Harris administration.

“Effective immediately, in the exercise of my authority, I hereby withdraw from the three pre-trial agreements you signed on July 31, 2024,” Austin said.

Prominent U.S. lawmakers have criticized the Biden-Harris administration for the plea deal, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA).

McConnell said the plea deal was “a revolting abdication of the government’s responsibility to defend America and deliver justice.”

“The Biden-Harris administration’s weakness in dealing with the sworn enemies of the American people seems to know no bounds,” McConnell said. “The only thing worse than negotiating with terrorists is negotiating with them after they’ve been detained. The families of their victims and the American people deserve real justice. In the very week that Israel eliminated some of Iran’s most trusted terrorist proxies, the administration’s decision to spare these mass murderers the death penalty is a particularly bitter pill.”

“Meanwhile, the Biden-Harris administration continues to seek to release more Guantanamo terrorists around the world,” he concluded. “The administration’s cowardice in the face of terrorism is a national disgrace.”

“Twenty-three years ago, America watched in horror as thousands of innocent Americans died,” he continued. “America mourned for weeks as first responders sifted through the ashes at Ground Zero, the Pentagon, and the crash site in Shanksville. For more than two decades, the families of those murdered by these terrorists have waited for justice. This plea agreement is a slap in the face to those families. They deserved better from the Biden-Harris administration.”

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) said the plea deal made it “a very, very good week, if you’re a terrorist.”

“If you’re someone who wants to murder Americans, this week has been phenomenal because Joe Biden and Kamala Harris just gave Khalid Sheikh Mohammed a gift, they agreed to take the death penalty off the table and spare his life,” Cruz said. “That’s an outrage. That’s an insult to the families of all those who were murdered on 9/11.”