All Blog Posts from Political Hotsheet

Attorney General Eric Holder defended on Wednesday his decision to prosecute the mastermind of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, and four other terror suspects in a federal court in New York City.

At left: In this Feb. 25 file photo, Attorney General Eric Holder listens during a news conference at the Justice Department in Washington. Holder testified Wednesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee defending his decision to put the professed Sept. 11 mastermind on trial in New York.

Holder defended his decision and addressed critics while testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Holder told senators that the federal courthouse in Lower Manhattan, just blocks away from where the World Trade Center once stood, was "the venue in which we were most likely to obtain justice for the American people."

"For eight years justice has been delayed for the 9/11 attacks," Holder said during his testimony. "No more delay. It is time; it is past time to finally act."

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The Obama administration appears to be going against public opinion with its decision to try five terrorist suspects – including self-proclaimed Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed – in a civilian trial in New York City.

A new CBS News poll finds that only 40 percent of Americans believe suspected terrorists should be tried in an open criminal court. Fifty-four percent say such suspects should be tried in a closed military court.

There is a correlation between where people stand on the trials and their political beliefs. Roughly six in ten Republicans and independents favor closed military trials, while 54 percent of Democrats prefer open civilian trials.

Read the Complete Poll

The suspects have been held at the Guantanamo Bay prison facility, which the Obama administration has promised to close. Americans have become increasingly resistant to doing so, according to the poll: fifty percent now say the facility should be kept open, while 39 percent back the administration's plan to close it.

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This post was written by WCBS' Marcia Kramer.

Gov. David Paterson openly criticized the White House on Monday, saying he thought it was a terrible idea to move alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other suspected terrorists to New York for trial.

"This is not a decision that I would have made. I think terrorism isn't just attack, it's anxiety and I think you feel the anxiety and frustration of New Yorkers who took the bullet for the rest of the country," he said.

Paterson's comments break with Democrats, who generally support the President's decision.

"Our country was attacked on its own soil on September 11, 2001 and New York was very much the epicenter of that attack. Over 2,700 lives were lost," he said. "It's very painful. We're still having trouble getting over it. We still have been unable to rebuild that site and having those terrorists so close to the attack is gonna be an encumbrance on all New Yorkers."

Paterson also said that the White House warned him six months ago this very situation would happen. He said while he disagrees with the decision, he will do everything in his power to make sure that the state's Department of Homeland Security will keep New Yorkers as safe as possible.

Republicans, including former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, have said the group should be tried in a different location under military tribunal because the attacks are considered an act of war.

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CBS News National Security Analyst Juan Zarate said on "Washington Unplugged" Friday that trying Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other Guantanamo Bay detainees in U.S. civilian courts was "an important decision, and appropriate."

"I think these are defendants that can be prosecuted, will be prosecuted," he said, adding: "This is a good set of defendants to put into the criminal legal system."

Host Bob Schieffer noted that the decision is already drawing strong criticism from people like New York Republican Rep. Peter King, who says the decision to hold the trial in New York City makes it a terrorist target.

"Well, I think security is always an issue with these cases," said Zarate. "But I think New York has handled big time cases before, dating back to the '93 World Trade Center case, and I think they know how to handle it."

"New York's at the top of the list for Al-Qaeda anyway, so I'm not sure that this necessarily ups the ante that much," he added.

Watch the entire conversation above. Also on Friday's show are interviews with Maggie Mahar, author of "Money Driven Medicine," and Claire Danes, Zac Efron and Richard Linklater of the film "Me and Orson Wells."

"Washington Unplugged" appears live on CBSNews.com each weekday at 12:30 p.m. ET. Click here to check out previous episodes.

Updated 2:28 p.m. ET

Congressional Republicans – along with independent Democratic Sen. Joe Lieberman – are not happy with the Obama administration's decision to try alleged Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (left) and four other Guantanamo Bay detainees in civilian federal court in New York.

"The Obama Administration's irresponsible decision to prosecute the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks in New York City puts the interests of liberal special interest groups before the safety and security of the American people," said House Republican leader John Boehner in a statement. "The possibility that Khalid Sheik Mohammed and his co-conspirators could be found 'not guilty' due to some legal technicality just blocks from Ground Zero should give every American pause."

"This decision is further evidence that the White House is reverting to a dangerous pre-9/11 mentality – treating terrorism as a law enforcement issue and hoping for the best," he added.

Sen. Republican Whip Jon Kyl, meanwhile, said "It is a constant amazement to me that there are some who seem more concerned about extending legal protections to terrorists than security protection to Americans."

Added Sen. John Cornyn: "These terrorists planned and executed the mass murder of thousands of innocent Americans. Treating them like common criminals is unconscionable."

"Our court system was never designed for this purpose," said Sen. Jeff Sessions. "These trials will turn lawyers, juries, and judges into targets, and will needlessly endanger Americans living nearby. They will give men like 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed an international stage to mock America and advance his own celebrity and jihad."

New York Republican Rep. Peter King suggested the decision makes New York City more of a target for terrorists.

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The bad news for the so-far unnamed teenager qua pirate-hijacker captured Sunday during a now-famous firefight is that he’ll almost certainly be convicted in an American court if and when he is brought to justice here in the States. The good news for the young man is that his time in confinement—both before and after his likely conviction—will be far more humane than he would receive were he to face charges in Kenya or some other African nation.

It doesn’t matter much that the suspect evidently is under 18 years old. Federal law permits the indictment of boys and girls for non-capital crimes. And since no victims died during the hijacking/piracy episode the death penalty would not be an option anyway following a conviction. Moreover, the circumstances surrounding any post-capture comments he may or may not have made shouldn’t be a big deal, either. The feds won’t need a confession here to be able to string together a very strong case. Captain Richard Phillips’ testimony, alone, with the help of a little Navy videotape, would probably be enough to generate a conviction.

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Here’s a classic Washington tale, as only a Beyond-the-Beltway boy would tell it.

The New York Times early Tuesday offered a dubious news analysis about the alarming demise of the government’s case against Ted Stevens, the former Alaska senator whose conviction last fall was dismissed this week by a judge furious over a pattern of prosecutorial misconduct.

By talking to Washington insiders (the Timesmen called them “the large corps of Washington lawyers who followed the case, including former prosecutors and defense lawyers”) about their fellow Washington insiders (Stevens’ prosecutors, who now are in big trouble) the Times came up with a think-piece that unfortunately reads more like an apologia for the newly-dubbed “Stevens Six” than it does an insightful look into how extraordinary (and disgraceful) all of this is.

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For an attorney and lawmaker, former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich sure seems to have a limited understanding of guilt and innocence.

The coiffed crusader was on CBS' Late Show With David Letterman today (airing later tonight) to once again let America know the truth: He's innocent.

And how do we know he's innocent? Because he says he's innocent.

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This analysis was written by CBS News legal analyst Andrew Cohen.

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Today, the threadbare phrase “political theater” rises temporarily from cliché. Kingfish-like, Illinois Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich will tear himself away from the green rooms and audio ear pieces of New York and will, on this last Thursday of the rest of his life, deliver himself into the well of the State Senate in Springfield.

There, he will face his prosecutors, who also happen to be his judges, to stand and deliver his own closing argument for an impeachment trial at which he has not been present or presented any defense.

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The Rod Blagojevich saga has sometimes seemed like a circus, but according to Chief Justice Thomas Fitzgerald, the time had come to get down to "solemn and serious business."

Fitzgerald this afternoon opened the Illinois Senate trial of the governor, who has been accused of corruption, including the effective sale of Barack Obama's former Senate seat. The embattled governor has already been impeached by the Illinois house; if two-thirds of the state's senators vote to convict him, he will be removed from office. The Senate can also vote to ban Blagojevich from elected office in the state.

Blagojevich is boycotting the trial, arguing that the rules are stacked against him. He is not, however, boycotting the national media; the governor has already appeared on "The View" and "Good Morning America" today, and will be on Fox News this afternoon and Larry King Live this evening.

"I'm here in New York because I can't get a fair hearing in Illinois, the state Senate in Illinois," Blagojevich said today, according to the Associated Press. "They've decided, with rules that are fixed, that don't allow me as a governor the right to be able to bring in witnesses to prove that I've done nothing wrong."

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