12.04.24

Durbin Makes Urgent Plea For Defense Secretary Austin To Reconsider His Revoking Of Guilty Plea Deal For Accused September 11th Plotters

Durbin to Sec. Austin, who is in final month of his tenure: "You have the power and the responsibility to deliver a measure of justice and judicial finality for the victims and their families through final guilty pleas. I hope you choose to do so."

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, again pressed U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin today on his decision to revoke a long-sought guilty plea deal between prosecutors and defendants accused of perpetrating the attacks against the United States on September 11, 2001. Secretary Austin revoked the deal two days after it was announced despite two years of negotiations, a move that frustrated victims’ families and put them through emotional whiplash.

Durbin pressed Secretary Austin to secure closure for the families by reconsidering his attempted revocation of the plea bargains in August, which Secretary Austin acknowledged. Ultimately, Secretary Austin has continued to push forward, despite the military commission judge ruling that Austin does not have the authority to revoke the plea agreements.  

Approved by the Convening Authority of the military commissions, the deal would have been a significant step towards justice for the victims and those who continue to mourn those lost on September 11, 2001. The deal included three of four defendants pleading guilty to all charges – including the murder of 2,976 people – on the condition that prosecutors would not seek the death penalty. The accused also agreed to respond truthfully to victim family member questions regarding the attacks.

Durbin began by acknowledging the traumatic experiences of victim family members, writing: “I write to again urge you to ensure that the victims of 9/11 and their thousands of family members and loved ones finally receive a measure of justice and closure. Far too many family members have died waiting for the military commission trial at Guantánamo to start—let alone deliver justice. After more than two decades of delays and false promises, this unconscionable retraumatizing of these families must end while there is still time.”

Durbin has chaired two hearings on Guantanamo Bay over the past 11 years and followed these developments for more than two decades. In December 2021, the Senate Judiciary Committee heard testimony from Ms. Colleen Kelly, who shared the painful experience of watching many other 9/11 family members pass away without justice or closure. Ms. Kelly’s brother, Bill Kelly, was killed in the North Tower that fateful day. She pleaded with Congress to ensure that the remaining family members see some measure of accountability before their own deaths.

Durbin then shared the latest, heart-wrenching update from Ms. Kelly, writing: “As the news broke that prosecutors in the 9/11 case had secured guilty pleas from three of the defendants on July 31, Colleen’s mother JoAnne was in hospice care. Colleen was able to reassure her that the family had done right by Bill. Colleen did not have the heart to tell her that you reversed the guilty pleas two days later. JoAnne Kelly passed away on August 6th with the ongoing lack of finality only compounding the Kelly family’s immeasurable loss.”

Durbin continued by sharing another tragic story of former Bush Administration Solicitor General Ted Olson, writing: “Ted Olson, former Bush Administration Solicitor General whose wife Barbara Olson was killed on Flight 77, wrote about the relief he felt when the prosecution announced that they had secured guilty pleas from three of the 9/11 defendants—ensuring that they would spend the rest of their lives in obscurity in prison.  He urged you to reconsider your attempt to withdraw those agreements, emphasizing that because of the flawed military commission system … Like JoAnne Kelly and so many other 9/11 family members, Ted Olson died earlier this month without such closure.”

Finally, Durbin concluded by urging the Secretary to reassess the path to securing justice for these families, writing: “So, I ask you, why would we continue to put families through this ordeal? You have the power and the responsibility to deliver a measure of justice and judicial finality for the victims and their families through final guilty pleas. I hope you choose to do so.”

Full text of the letter is available here.

Durbin has long been an advocate in the effort to secure a plea deal for those charged at the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, as well as to close the detention center. Durbin held hearings in 2013 and in 2021 to examine the national security, fiscal, and human rights implications of closing the Guantanamo Bay detention facility, where he also questioned witnesses about pursuing plea agreements and why that is the most viable option for bringing a prompt resolution to the cases before the military commissions.

In April 2021, Durbin led a group of 23 Senators in a letter to President Biden expressing their support for finally closing the detention facility, which he again pressed the President to do in another letter with a group of Senators in February this year.

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