White House: We Didn’t Know About 9/11 Plea Deal Until Yesterday, Can’t Comment on It

On Thursday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “Special Report,” White House National Security Communications Adviser John Kirby stated that the plea deal for three defendants accused of involvement in the September 11 terrorist attacks, including accused plotter Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, “was orchestrated by an independent military convening authority. The White House wasn’t aware of this deal or the process leading up to it until yesterday.” And the White House can’t say anything about the deal other than that the national security team will talk to the Department of Defense about the deal.

Host Bret Baier said, [relevant exchange begins around 4:40] “I want to turn topics, and this is the 9/11 plea deal. … There’s a lot of reaction to this, John, a plea deal that gets them out of the death penalty. These are the orchestrators, planners, of 9/11 killed some 3,000 Americans.”

Kirby responded, “This was something that was orchestrated by an independent military convening authority. The White House wasn’t aware of this deal or the process leading up to it until yesterday. The president has directed his national security team, as appropriate, to reach out to individuals and leaders at the Department of Defense to discuss this matter further. I’m limited into any other thing I can say about it right now, but, obviously, we weren’t aware of it until yesterday. The president wants the team to discuss as appropriate with the Department of Defense.”

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett

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