WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is planning to insert himself into the debate about where to try the accused mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, three administration officials said Thursday, signaling a recognition that the administration had mishandled the process and triggered a political backlash.
Obama initially had asked Attorney General Eric Holder to choose the site of the trial in an effort to maintain an independent Justice Department. But the White House has been taken aback by the intense criticism from political opponents and local officials of Holder’s decision to try Khalid Sheik Mohammed in a civilian courtroom in New York.
Administration officials acknowledge that Holder and Obama advisers were unable to build political support for the trial. 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.”
Administration officials said they hope the president’s involvement will help secure congressional funding for the costly trial within a matter of weeks, before bipartisan efforts to strip financing for the case against Mohammed and four alleged co-conspirators gain greater momentum.
At first blush, the choice of New York made sense to many lawyers in and outside of the administration: Judges and prosecutors there have handled serious national-security trials, the Manhattan courthouse and tunneled detention complex would not require any of the suspects to move above ground, and security costs would be lower than building a new facility.
But several sources questioned why the administration — especially one replete with political veterans — has not done a better job of managing the complex politics of national security.
“How did this happen?” asked Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y. “It was being blind to political realities, and I don’t mean partisan politics. I mean the real, legitimate grassroots feelings. They misread it.”
