Rep. Elise Stefanik (R., N.Y.) on Thursday said the Biden-Harris administration "betrayed the American people" by striking a "sickening" plea deal that lets the three terrorists behind the 9/11 attack avoid the death penalty.
"On September 11, 2001, as the world watched the deadliest terrorist attack in American history, the American people rallied together in support of our nation and vowed to never forget," Stefanik, chairwoman of the House Republican Conference, said in a statement.
"The Biden-Harris administration just shattered that promise and betrayed the American people," the New York Republican added. "It is sickening that the Biden-Harris Department of Justice struck a plea deal with the al Qaeda terrorists behind these horrific terrorist attacks."
Stefanik’s remarks come in response to the Department of Defense reaching a plea deal on Wednesday with Khalid Shaikh Mohammad, Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak Bin 'Attash, and Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawsawi—three terrorists responsible for the September 11, 2001, attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people and brought down the Twin Towers in New York City.
As part of the deal, the three defendants, who have been in U.S. custody since 2003, agreed to plead guilty to murder and conspiracy charges in exchange for life sentences instead of facing a death-penalty trial. Prosecutors said the deal, negotiated across 27 months, was meant to bring some "finality and justice" to the case, which had been stalled due to concerns that CIA’s torture of the defendants tainted the evidence against them.
Stefanik in her Thursday statement slammed President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, the presumptive 2024 Democratic nominee, for "placat[ing] terrorists instead of holding them accountable for the atrocities they commit," noting that the administration’s "pattern of appeasement will only lead to more violence."
Several prominent Republicans have also publicly denounced the Wednesday plea deal. House speaker Mike Johnson (R., La.) said the administration "has done the unthinkable" in letting the 9/11 terrorists off the hook, while Trump’s running mate Sen. J.D. Vance (R., Ohio) said at his campaign rally Wednesday evening that "we need a president who kills terrorists, not negotiates with them."
"The Biden-Harris Administration’s cowardice in the face of terror is a national disgrace," Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) 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."