Members of the U.S. House of Representatives have launched an investigation into the plea deal that the Biden administration has reached with the man believed to be the mastermind behind the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. 

This is according to a new report from the New York Post. 

The plea deal has caused outrage as it allows the terrorists to avoid the death penalty.

But, now, it appears that the White House, following the backlash, may be changing its mind.

The probe

The House investigation was announced by House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY).

The Post quotes Comer as saying, "You are allowing these terrorists to avoid the death penalty, signaling to our enemies that the United States is reluctant to pursue full justice against those who attack our nation."

Comer, according to the Post, also called Biden out for the "complete lack of transparency regarding the deal."

The Post notes, "The terms of the plea deal remain unknown even after more than two years of negotiations that were ultimately signed off by senior officials in the Pentagon."

House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mike Rogers (R-AL) wrote a similar letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.

White House does a complete 180

Not long after the backlash - including the probe launched by Congress - the Biden administration decided to backtrack on the plea deal.

The Post separately reports:

Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin on Friday revoked the shocking plea deals that would have spared the death penalty for the accused mastermind of the 9/11 terrorist attacks and two alleged accomplices. In an official memo, Austin, 70, announced he had relieved the official responsible for signing off on the widely criticized plea agreements from authority and would instead assert his own authority in the matter.

The Post goes on to quote Austin as stating, "I have determined that, in light of the significance of the decision to enter into pre-trial agreements with the accused in the above-referenced case, responsibility for such a decision should rest with me as the superior convening authority under the Military Commissions Act of 2009."

Austin added, "Effective immediately, I hereby withdraw your authority in the above-referenced case to enter into a pre-trial agreement and reserve such authority to myself. Effective immediately, in the exercise of my authority, I hereby withdraw from the three pre-trial agreements that you signed on July 31, 2024, in the above-referenced case."

One has to wonder whether the Biden administration would have revoked the plea deal had this not been an election year.