In a campaign speech Wednesday in Glendale, Arizona, Trump’s running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance, criticized the plea deal reached by three of the terrorists behind the attack. September 11 Terrorist Attacks awaiting trial at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
“I heard today that the Biden-Harris Justice Department has reached a deal with al-Qaeda terrorist Khalid Sheikh Mohammed to avoid the death penalty. That was announced today,” Vance said. “As someone who enlisted in the Marine Corps to serve after 9/11, that’s ridiculous. But it’s not surprising.”
On Wednesday, the Department of Defense (DoD) announced that military commissions convening authority Susan Escallier had entered into pretrial agreements with Khalid Shaikh Mohammad, Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak Bin ‘Attash and Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawsawi.
The Ohio Republican went on to call for help from the Biden-Harris administration, which he said “has been a disaster for our country around the world.”
“Think about what we’ve seen: Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have weaponized the Justice Department to go after their political opponents, but they’re making a sweetheart deal with the 9/11 terrorists,” Vance said. “We need a president who kills terrorists, not negotiates with them.”
Republican vice presidential candidate Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, speaks at a campaign event in Glendale, Ariz., on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
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House Speaker Mike Johnson also condemned the prosecutors’ decision, saying the Biden-Harris administration had done the “unthinkable.”
“23 years ago, America watched in horror as thousands of innocent Americans died. 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 waited for justice. This plea deal is a slap in the face to those families. They deserved better from the Biden-Harris administration,” Johnson wrote in a message on X.
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An American flag over the engraved name of Father Mychal F. Judge, the New York City Fire Department chaplain who died in the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center, at the National September 11 Memorial in New York City. (AP Photo/Mike Segar/Pool/File)
The terms and conditions of the plea deal were not disclosed, but the terror suspects will be spared the death penalty, three relatives of 9/11 victims told the Office of Military Commissions (OMC), the The New York Post reported.
The defendants are accused of providing training, financial support and other assistance to 19 terrorists who hijacked airliners and crashed them into the World Trade Center in New York, the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, and a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, on September 11, 2001.
The attacks killed nearly 3,000 people in the the worst terrorist attack on American soil in American history. Relatives of the victims expressed outrage upon hearing the news of the settlement.
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In September, President Biden rejected a plea deal that would have excused on 9/11 The architects and co-conspirators potentially face the death penalty.
Republican vice presidential candidate Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, shakes hands with a young supporter during a campaign event in Glendale, Ariz., Wednesday. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
They are due to be tried at Guantanamo on August 5.
Vance also gave other examples of the Biden-Harris administration’s weaknesses, linking Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro re-election, which he allegedly won fraudulently on Sunday, which would give him a new six-year term.
“There are so many examples that we could talk about, but we have recent news coming out of Venezuela that they made a deal with a Venezuelan dictator and offered in exchange that the dictator would hold free and fair elections,” Vance said. “And shockingly, the Kamala Harris administration knows nothing about free and fair elections.”
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“So they’re coddling dictators all over the world. We need to make America strong again. And that means making Donald J. Trump president of the United States again.”
Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House for comment.
Fox News Digital’s Louis Casiano contributed to this report.
