On Friday’s “Mark Levin Show,” Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) argued that the plea deal with the three defendants accused of involvement in the September 11 terrorist attacks, including accused plotter Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, that was reached this week and revoked on Friday by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin came about because the White House wanted Guantanamo Bay closed at all costs, “just like the political mandate to pull out of Afghanistan by the anniversary of 9/11.” And the deal was only rescinded because of political backlash.

Cruz said, “[T]hey did it because Joe Biden and Kamala Harris and the apparatchiks said, we must close Guantanamo. It was a political mandate, just like the political mandate to pull out of Afghanistan by the anniversary of 9/11. And it trumped everything else, it led to the disaster in Afghanistan. Here, they’re so close to an election, they just decided to run away. But to be clear, Kamala wants to do this, just after Election Day.”

Cruz further argued that the White House could have squashed the deal earlier if they wanted to.

Earlier this week, White House National Security Communications Adviser John Kirby stated that the White House still wants to close Guantanamo, but maintained they had nothing to do with the deal and didn’t know about it until Wednesday.

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