U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz sent a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Monday expressing disapproval of a reported plea deal for the suspected mastermind of the 9/11 attacks.
The senator’s correspondence was prompted by news that the Pentagon had sent letters to the families of 9/11 victims soliciting their questions and comments on a possible plea deal that would allow the defendants to “accept criminal responsibility for their actions and plead guilty … in exchange for not receiving the death penalty.”
The Pentagon’s letter said that the Office of the Chief Prosecutor is considering entering a pre-trial plea deal for five men believed to be involved in 9/11, including suspected leader Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.
Cruz (R-TX), along with cosigner Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY), asked Austin to ditch the reported plea deal negotiations, according to the letter obtained by the Washington Examiner.
“The September 11th plotters are mass murderers, deserving of the ultimate punishment,” they wrote to Austin. “Indeed, if there are persons walking the face of the Earth who are deserving of the death penalty, it is these five men. After over two decades of patiently waiting, the victims’ families deserve closure.”
The five men suspected of helping orchestrate the 9/11 attacks are currently imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay.
Cruz and Malliotakis allege the Biden administration is exploring a deal without the death penalty because the president has openly stated he wants to end capital punishment at the federal level.
“The Biden Administration’s decision here appears not to be based on the strength of the evidence or the wishes of the victims’ families, but rather a purely political choice, designed to appease the fringe left of his party,” they write. “Make no mistake, any outcome short of the death penalty for the September 11th plotters would be completely unacceptable and constitute a total failure of leadership on the part of the Department of Defense.”
Cruz and Malliotakis are the latest to pressure the Biden administration into ditching the reported plea deal. More than 2,000 families of the victims of the 9/11 attacks signed a letter to the White House this month in opposition to negotiations that remove the death penalty. A bipartisan coalition of members of Congress signed a similar letter to Biden opposing the negotiations this month.
Adrienne Watson, a National Security Council spokesperson, provided a statement to the Washington Examiner claiming that, as is standard practice, the White House had not been consulted on the Office of the Chief Prosecutor’s correspondence.
“Consistent with that, and to be totally clear, this letter reflects no policy shift, decision, guidance, or anything else from the White House. We remain deeply committed to justice for victims of terrorism as well as accountability for its perpetrators,” Watson said.