White House considering moving terrorism trial out of New York

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In the face of mounting opposition to the planned New York City trial of several men accused in the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the Obama administration is considering moving the proceedings.

The Justice Department is examining possible alternative venues for the trial of accused 9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and four alleged accomplices, an administration official says.

Atty. Gen. Eric Holder had announced last year that the trial would be held in Manhattan federal court, and the White House as recently as this week was defending the decision. But the administration faces growing opposition to the trial. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who originally supported the plan, changed course this week. The city contends that it will cost hundreds of millions of dollars to provide security for a trial expected to run at least a year.

Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.) said today on ABC’s ‘Good Morning America’ that it is ‘a terrible idea to return the mastermind of 9/11 to the scene of the worst terrorist attack in U.S. history.’

The congressman suggested that some Democrats would join Republicans in legislation to block any Justice Department funding for the trial if the administration didn’t move it.

The issue also has generated new controversy over the question of trying accused terrorists in military tribunals or in federal courts. Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) has introduced a bill prohibiting Justice from spending any money on the trials of detainees held at the U.S.-run military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in federal civilian courts

The New York mayor said on his weekly radio show today that he had spoken with several ‘high-level’ people in the administration and made his point that the trial would be expensive and disruptive to Lower Manhattan. He said the administration understands and is ‘trying to do something.’

Six senators have written in a letter to Holder that the planned trial in New York “will be providing [the accused terrorists] one of the most visible platforms in the world to exalt their past acts and to rally others in support of further terrorism.’

Sens. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), John McCain (R-Ariz.), Blanche Lincoln (D-Arkansas) Susan Collins (R-Maine), Jim Webb (D-Va.), and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) signed the letter. The administration has maintained that the man often referred to as KSM, the accused mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, and alleged accomplices can be tried safely at the federal facility in New York, which includes secure connections between the jails and courtrooms. [Updated at 12:51 p.m: An earlier version of this post incorrectly said Blanche Lincoln represented Arizona.]

“The president is committed to seeing that he’s brought to justice,’’ Bill Burton, a White House spokesman, said this week. “He agrees with the attorney general’s opinion that … that he and others can be litigated successfully and securely in the United States of America, just like others have, like Richard Reid [convicted for an attempted shoe bombing of an airliner]. Currently our federal jails hold hundreds of convicted terrorists, and the president’s opinion has not changed on that.’’

-- Mark Silva and Christi Parsons