Justice Department: We’ve Convicted at Least 390 Terrorists Since 9/11

Created: March 26, 2010 12:40 | Last updated: July 31, 2020 00:00

Just how many terrorists have American civilian courts convicted? The Justice Department is happy to let you know.

In filings provided to the congressional intelligence and judiciary committees — and now to the press — the Department itemized all the people it’s successfully prosecuted since 9/11. It divides them into two categories: the first is for ”violations of federal statutes that are directly related to international terrorism and that are utilized regularly in international terrorism matters” and the second is for those convicted of a terror-supporting offense, like “fraud, immigration, firearms, drugs, false statements, perjury, and obstruction of justice, as well as general conspiracy charges.” All told, that’s 150 convictions in the first category, and 240 in the second, for a grand total of 390 people convicted on terror-related charges from September 11, 2001 to March 18, 2010.

And there’s more, according to the Justice Department’s filing, since its total “does not include defendants whose convictions remain under seal, nor does it include defendants who have been charged with a terrorism or terrorism-related offense but have not been convicted either at trial or by guilty plea.”

But the military commissions have convicted three people since 9/11, so that’s something.

Greg Sargent scans this all in so I don’t have to. Looks like the Justice Department is trying to fight off any attempt to move Khalid Shaikh Mohammed’s prosecution into a military commission as part of a White House deal with Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.).