The White House was not aware until Wednesday that three men accused of carrying out the Sept. 11 attacks had struck deals with U.S. investigators, White House spokesman John Kirby said Friday amid criticism from the families of victims of the attack.
“This was organized by an independent military investigative body. The White House did not know about it, about this deal or the processes leading up to it until yesterday. The president has directed his national security team to contact individuals and leaders in the Department of Defense to discuss this further,” Kirby said in an interview with Fox News.
The U.S. Department of Defense on Wednesday sent letters to the families of the victims of the terrorist attack, which show that the families were notified in 2022 to begin negotiating a deal between the accused and the investigation. The text of the letter was published by US media.
According to the letter, the three defendants agreed to plead guilty in exchange for life in prison instead of the death penalty. The military judge has yet to sentence them, the first hearing is expected next summer.
Under the deal, the victims’ families have until September 14 to submit their questions to the defendants, which the latter must answer within 90 days. The families of the victims have already publicly expressed their dissatisfaction with the deal. The Pentagon limited itself to confirming the fact of the deal yesterday, but did not officially disclose its terms.
The media note that the U.S. had been in pre-trial proceedings with the defendants since 2008 and did not bring the case to a court hearing due to the fact that the men gave guilty testimony as a result of torture in Guantanamo prison. Thus, had the military prosecutors not cut a deal with the defendants, they would have had to bring the case to trial without key evidence.
The defendants – Khalid Sheikh Mohammad, Walid Mohammed Sali Mubarak and Mustafa Ahmed Adam – are suspected of aiding the terrorists who attacked the Twin Towers in New York City on Sept. 11, 2001.