The White House of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris has just fired the senior official whom they claim is responsible for orchestrating the plea deal for the "mastermind" of the Sept. 11, 2021, terrorist attacks. 

The big question, though, is whether the administration is simply using Retired Brig. Gen. Susan K. Escallier as a scapegoat to try to hide from the massive backlash that they received for the plea deal.

The backlash, according to the Daily Wire, stemmed from the fact that the plea deal took the death penalty off the table for multiple Sept. 11, 2021, terrorists.

The outlet reports, "The deal allowed the terrorists to escape the death penalty in exchange for them pleading guilty to the murder of 2,976 people and serving sentences of at most life in prison."

"Effective immediately"

It was Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin, who, on Friday, announced the termination of Escallier as well as the termination of the plea deal.

The New York Post reports Austin a saying, "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."

He continued, "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."

This came after Austin announced the termination of Escallier.

At the time of this writing, no further comment on the matter has been provided by the Biden administration.

Background

The timing of this decision to fire Escallier and to rescind the plea deal is likely no coincidence.

For one thing, it is an election year.

For another, the Biden administration was facing a significant pushback from the American people, particularly from those directly affected by the terrorist attacks.

The backlash had grown to such an extent that Congress decided to open an investigation into the plea bargain - not only for the fact that it took the death penalty off the table, but also for the fact that the Biden administration has lacked transparency about it.

It is unclear whether the investigation will continue now that the plea deal has been called off. There is no question that this is one of the reasons why the administration has back pedalled - in order to avoid further scrutiny in the matter.