GOP Rep. Nicole Malliotakis told Newsmax that families of the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks "want to see accountability" for the perpetrators.
Appearing Tuesday on "The Record with Greta Van Susteren," the New York lawmaker walked through a new letter she signed with Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, calling for the Pentagon not to seek plea deals for the suspects.
The New York Times reported that the potential deals would be prosecutorial concessions for years of alleged torture by the Central Intelligence Agency of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and his four co-defendants.
If agreed to by both sides and the case's judge, the deals would involve one or more of the suspected perpetrators admitting their guilt in order to avoid the death penalty.
"It just seems like one more bad deal from [President] Joe Biden," Malliotakis told Van Susteren. "Whether it's wanting to reenter the Iran Deal. Reentering the Paris Accords. Nord Stream 2. It's just one debacle after another. But this one really hits home."
The congresswoman, who represents part of New York City, emphasized that the families of departed persons involved "want to see accountability."
"They want to see a trial. They want to see convictions. And they also want to see ultimate punishment," Malliotakis continued. "So, to say that these individuals deserve anything less if they are convicted is outrageous."
Mohammed is currently imprisoned in Guantanamo Bay detention camp, along with four others, concerning his alleged central role in the Sept. 11 attacks that killed nearly 3,000 Americans.
Cruz and Malliotakis' concerns about Mohammed and the others' trial were initially spurred by a disclosure the Pentagon gave 9/11 families on Aug. 1, which revealed that they were floating the "pre-trial agreements."
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Luca Cacciatore ✉
Luca Cacciatore, a Newsmax general assignment writer, is based in Arlington, Virginia, reporting on news and politics.
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