Gossip News » 9-11 Trials

Holder Still Supports Criminal Trials for Alleged 9/11 Plotters

admin — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 02:11:02 +0000

Attorney General Eric Holder maintained today that he favors plans to try suspected terrorists in traditional criminal courts, in spite of earlier indications he may be leaning toward holding the trials of self-proclaimed 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and other alleged plotters in military tribunals. The final decision is still “weeks away,” but Holder argued that criminal trials have been successful and “secure” in the past; in fact, it can be easier to get suspects to plead guilty in civilian courts, he said.

"They are tested ... they are secure, we have tried these cases in a safe manner," Holder told a House Appropriations subcommittee. "Our allies around the world support us in bringing these cases in (criminal) courts."

As for Osama Bin Laden, he won’t see either kind of court, Holder said, claiming the Al Qaeda leader won’t be captured alive.

“Let's deal with reality," Holder said. "The reality is that we will be reading Miranda rights to the corpse of Osama bin Laden. He will never appear in an American courtroom … The possibility of catching him alive is infinitesimal. He will be killed by us or he will be killed by his own people so he can't be captured by us."

Holder went on to compare bin Laden to, uh, Charles Manson, explaining that terrorists in court "have the same rights that Charles Manson would have, any other kind of mass murderer."

Holder defends criminal trials for 9/11 suspects [Reuters]
Holder: Osama Can "Remain Silent" Forever [CBS News]

Post: Obama Advisers Will Recommend Military Tribunals for 9/11 Trials

admin — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 04:49:44 +0000

President Obama’s advisers will likely recommend that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed — the self-proclaimed mastermind behind the 9/11 attacks — be prosecuted in a military tribunal, the Washington Post reports tonight based on information from administration officials. This move would represent a departure from Attorney General Eric Holder’s initial plan to try Mohammed and other alleged plotters in New York City civilian courts, an idea that has been derided by Mayor Bloomberg and other major figures from both parties. The Post says that if Obama does accept the “likely recommendation of his advisers,” the White House may then be able to move ahead in taking the steps to close the prison at Guantànamo Bay and replace it with a facility in the U.S.

Obama advisers set to recommend military tribunals for alleged 9/11 plotters [WP]

Bloomberg Defends Estimate for Cost of 9/11 Trials

admin — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 03:10:08 +0000

Mayor Bloomberg stood by his claim Tuesday that holding the trials of the 9/11 suspects in a Manhattan courtroom would cost the city over $200 million per year, after Vice-President Joe Biden questioned the estimation on Sunday’s Meet the Press. Bloomberg said the estimation is “reasonable” and no one in President Obama’s administration had questioned it until this point. The figure is “based on many years of experience and knowing what the costs are in a big city of deploying the greatest police department in the world," the mayor said. [Gothamist]

9/11 Trials Might Not Even Be in Civilian Courts Anymore

admin — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 17:20:04 +0000

Forget Manhattan — Attorney General Eric Holder, under increasing political pressure, is now considering the possibility of moving the trials of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and the other alleged 9/11 plotters to military tribunals and out of civilian courts entirely.

And Holder, in an interview Thursday, left open the possibility that Mohammed's trial could be switched to a military commission, although he said that is not his personal and legal preference.

"At the end of the day, wherever this case is tried, in whatever forum, what we have to ensure is that it's done as transparently as possible and with adherence to all the rules," Holder said. "If we do that, I'm not sure the location or even the forum is as important as what the world sees in that proceeding."

But it was only a few days ago that Obama was defending the decision to go the civilian route. In an interview with Katie Couric, Obama said that "it is a virtue of our system that we should be proud of" that the Bush administration was able to prosecute 190 "folks" for terrorism ties in civilian courts. Obama had previously said, “I think this notion that somehow we have to be fearful, that these terrorists ... possess some special powers that prevent us from presenting evidence against them, locking them up and, you know, exacting swift justice, I think that has been a fundamental mistake." Special powers? Terrorists don't have them. Obama's Republican critics, on the other hand, might — they've succeeded in making a Constitutional-law professor reconsider his faith in our criminal-justice system.

Obama will help select location of Khalid Sheik Mohammed terrorism trial [WP]

Why Won’t Obama Put the New York 9/11 Trials Out of Their Misery?

admin — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 14:45:00 +0000

Apparently, despite growing protestations from basically every politician who matters about holding the trials of the 9/11 plotters in Manhattan, and the White House's acknowledgment that it has asked the Justice Department to search for a new location, President Obama is not quite ready to close the door entirely on the original plan.

"I have not ruled it out, but I think it's important for us to take into account the practical, logistical issues involved. I mean, if you've got a city that is saying no, and a police department that is saying no, and a mayor that is saying no, that makes it difficult."

Yes, exactly. The entire political leadership of the city and state has turned against holding this trial in Manhattan, making it almost unimaginable that it would be forced upon New York at this point. Maybe you haven't found the new place yet, but we pretty much know you will. So please, President Obama, don't drag this out any longer. We know it's hard to let go of an idea that once seemed so promising to you. But it's become too much of a headache, and too unfeasible. Now it's time to sit it down, tell it about the rabbits, and shoot it in the back of the head.

Billion dollar nightmare looms as Obama refuses to rule out holding 9/11 terror trials in NYC [NYDN]

Mayor of Newburgh, New York, Would Love to Host the Terrorists

admin — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 14:00:00 +0000

As the movement to get the 9/11 trials moved to anywhere in the world but downtown Manhattan continues to grow, the mayor of Newburgh in upstate New York — which has an Air Force base that would host the trials — is all, "Where do I sign?" "I look at it almost as a tourist attraction," Mayor Nicholas Valentine tells the Post. "The international attention would put Newburgh on the map." Actually, if we want to get technical about it, terrorists have already put Newburgh on the map. Remember the Newburgh Four, the pot-smoking, would-be Bronx synagogue bombers? In fact, now that we think about it, Newburgh kind of owes New York City. After they take some terrorists off our hands, we'll call it even.

Upstaters' terror-ific idea: Host evildoers and profit [NYP]