Obama, Holder defend 9/11 trial

As Attorney General Eric Holder defended his decision to prosecute Sept. 11 plotters in civilian court in New York, President Obama backed him up in a series of TV interviews today.

Holder testifed this morning before the Senate Judiciary Committee about his call to put confessed mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four co-conspirators on trial in a federal courthouse in the shadow of Ground Zero. The decision has been slammed by Republicans, who have raised concerns about security and who have argued that terrorists should not be treated like criminals.

But Obama said that critics won't find the decision "offensive at all when he's convicted and when the death penalty is applied to him."

"I think this notion that we have to be fearful that these terrorists possess some special powers that prevent us from presenting evidence against them, locking them up and exacting swift justice, I think that has been a fundamental mistake," Obama said on CNN.

Asked whether he would take responsibility if the decision goes wrong, the president replied, "I always have to take responsibility. That's my job."

UPDATE: Republicans aren't giving up their fight on the issue. This afternoon, House GOP leader John Boehner announced he had signed a discharge petition filed by Pete Hoekstra, the senior Republican on the Intelligence Committee, to force a vote on a bill that would stop the transfer or release of terrorists held at the Guantanamo Bay prison into the United States.

“Despite Americans’ strong opposition to importing terrorists held at the Guantanamo Bay prison into the United States, the Obama Administration continues to move forward with their dangerous plans to do so anyway. The ‘Keep Terrorists Out of America Act’ does exactly what the American people want, and they deserve a vote on this common-sense bill," Boehner said in a statement.

“Despite repeated requests from Republicans in Congress, this Administration has refused to present the American people with its plan for what to do with the terrorists held at Guantanamo and for confronting and defeating the global terrorist threat. Right now, there is no evidence that this Administration has such a plan. The American people deserve better. I urge my colleagues, on both sides of the aisle, to listen to the American people and sign the discharge petition.”