Grassley: What If KSM Gets Off Like O.J.?

Rachel Slajda | November 18, 2009, 12:50PM

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Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA)

9/11 Trials, Chuck Grassley, Eric Holder, Terrorists

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Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) made an interesting point about civilian trials for terrorists in today's hearing with Attorney General Eric Holder.

My observation, that I don't want you to respond to, is, I don't know how you can make a statement that failure to convict is not an option, when you got juries in this country. I think a lot of Americans thought O.J. Simpson oughta been convicted of murder rather than being in jail for what he's in jail for. It seemed to me ludicrous. I'm a farmer, not a lawyer, but I just wanted to make an observation.

Holder interrupted Grassley's following question in order to respond.

"As long as it doesn't come out of my time," Grassley muttered.

Holder assured Grassley that if a trial was unsuccessful and didn't result in a conviction, the defendant would not be released in the U.S.

Video after the jump.

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11 comments

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ohyeathatsright

November 18, 2009 1:13 PM

"I think a lot of Americans thought O.J. Simpson oughta been convicted of murder..."

While that may be true, this shows an incredible disrespect to our judicial process. It doesn't matter what "a lot of Americans" think, it matters what a jury of the defendant's peers thing.

Wish Holder would have called him out for that BS instead of giving him credit with an answer.

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RuperttheBear

November 18, 2009 1:14 PM

Wow. "Aw shucks, I'm just some dumb hayseed, not none of them there lawyers." Blargh.

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jenzinoh

November 18, 2009 1:17 PM

First of all, Grassley with his, "I'm not asking a question", (read: I'm just grandstanding) and then drops the OJ is equal to KSM... ummm... interesting.

Secondly, by all means if a jury finds KSM not-guilty via some technicality, yes, let him go. All the more reason to try him in New York... on top of that, have him take the subway somewhere.... Kudos to Jon Stewart for the idea.

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commie atheist

November 18, 2009 1:33 PM in reply to jenzinoh

Even if he was acquitted, there's no way he would be released:

On the prospect of KSM being released, Gude shrugs, "It isn't even in the realm of possibility."
An acquittal would be a political disaster for the administration -- but there's really no way that KSM is getting away, because the government has at least three different ways to detain him indefinitely post-acquittal. It doesn't matter under what venue he's tried.

http://www.prospect.org/csnc/blogs/tapped_archive?month=11&year=2009&base_name=could_khalid_sheik_mohammed_be

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commie atheist

November 18, 2009 1:21 PM

I'm a farmer, not a lawyer

Wrong, Senator Grassley. You're a coward, like the rest of your teabagging friends.

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Gopherit

November 18, 2009 1:45 PM

I think Jon Stewart was right. KSM's life expectancy could be measured with an egg timer if he were released on the streets of New York.

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Gopherit

November 18, 2009 1:45 PM

And Grassley has been and will continue to be an idiot and a shill.

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EdA

November 18, 2009 1:55 PM

It's too bad that Chuck Grassley insists on proving that he has nothing to contribute to American life. There are a number of reasons why the criminal jury did not convict OJ of murder, including botched prosecution, the general feeling that the LAPD was trying to frame a guilty man, and (I suspect) a feeling that if someone like OJ can be tried, then so could anyone else, plus, rather bizarrely, some people seeing OJ as a role model. OJ also never bragged about murdering Ron Goldman and Nicole Simpson.

I doubt that there are twelve adult Americans who would consider Khalid Sheik Mohammed and his fellow scumbags a sympathetic figure, they have bragged about their crime, and there is no reason to believe that they wouldn't confess/brag again in open court.

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