House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, praised Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s decision Friday to overturn plea deals for three inmates accused of helping plot the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
“The Biden-Harris administration, @GOPOversight and @HASCRepublicans “We are opening an investigation into this terrible plea deal,” Johnson said. Posts About X.
The Defense Department faced a wave of criticism from the right following the announcement of the plea deal, which would have spared him the death penalty if he pleaded guilty.
Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), chairman of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, announced Friday morning ahead of Austin’s announcement that his committee was investigating the plea deal.
In his letter to President Biden, Comer cited a statement by Kathy Villano, the wife of a New York Police Department officer killed on 9/11.
“I am outraged and disappointed that enemy combatants who killed thousands of Americans on our soil are now using the U.S. justice system for their own gain and receiving U.S. taxpayer support for housing, food and medical care for the rest of their lives,” her statement said.
In his post, Johnson suggested he supported tougher sentences.
“Now is the time to deliver long-awaited justice to the families of the 9/11 victims,” he added.
The Secretary of Defense took direct responsibility for the case and reversed the agreement by revoking the pretrial judgment signed by retired Brigadier General Susan K. Escalier, effectively turning the case back into a death penalty case.
“Congress should not have acted to remind us that we do not negotiate with 9/11 terrorists,” the Republican Oversight Committee report said. Posts Until X o’clock on Saturday morning.
