Decision On 9/11 Trials May Not Come Until After Elections

If you’re waiting for the Attorney General to decide what he’s going to do with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and the other 9/11 defendants that were supposed to have been tried in New York City, you’re going to have to wait a bit longer:

Attorney General Eric Holder said the decision over where to hold the trial for alleged 9/11 plotter Khalid Sheikh Mohammad was “weeks away” — three months ago.

Now advocates on both sides of the issue say they expect the Obama administration to punt the decision until after the November midterm elections— when the controversial plan could do less damage to the political fortunes of endangered Democrats and might face less resistance on Capitol Hill.

Politics ? In Washington ? I’m shocked.

FILED UNDER: Law and the Courts, National Security, Terrorism, US Politics, , , , , , ,
Doug Mataconis
About Doug Mataconis
Doug Mataconis held a B.A. in Political Science from Rutgers University and J.D. from George Mason University School of Law. He joined the staff of OTB in May 2010 and contributed a staggering 16,483 posts before his retirement in January 2020. He passed far too young in July 2021.

Comments

  1. Alex Knapp says:

    I’m sure if the members of the First Congress were alive today, they would agree that letting someone languish in jail for years awaiting trial is what they meant by “speedy” when they wrote the 6th Amendment.