Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin, D-Ill., has urged Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin to reinstate plea deals that were struck with three accused masterminds behind the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The deals were revoked last week, sparking significant backlash. Durbin expressed his disappointment with the decision to revoke the deals, stating that it “denies finality and justice to 9/11 families and exposes yet again the lack of independence that has haunted the military commissions from the outset.” The Department of Defense initially announced last week that pre-trial agreements were reached with Khalid Shaikh Mohammad, Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak Bin ‘Attash, and Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawsawi. While the details of the agreements weren’t made public, reports suggested that they involved the alleged terrorists avoiding the death penalty. This news was met with fear and outrage from relatives of 9/11 victims. Joe Connor, whose cousin, Steve Schlag, was killed on 9/11, expressed his fear that justice would not be served. He pointed to the fact that his father, Frank, was killed in the 1975 FALN terrorist attack on the Fraunces Tavern in New York City. Senator Mike Lee, R-Utah, described the initial plea deal as “a slap in the face to America and her honored dead.” By Friday of last week, Austin announced he was withdrawing the plea agreements and relieving the official who had coordinated the deals under his authority. Austin stated that the decision to enter into such agreements was significant enough to warrant his direct oversight as the superior convening authority under the Military Commissions Act of 2009. In his order, Austin withdrew the authority of the official to enter into pre-trial agreements and personally revoked the three pre-trial agreements that had been signed on July 31, 2024. Fox News Digital’s Stepheny Price, Louis Casiano, and Ashley Papa contributed to this report. Julia Johnson is a politics writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business, leading coverage of the U.S. Senate. She was previously a politics reporter at the Washington Examiner. Follow Julia’s reporting on X at @JuliaaJohnson_ and send tips to Julia.Johnson@fox.com.
Durbin Urges Austin to Reinstate 9/11 Terrorist Plea Deals
