Defense lawyers in the Sept. 11 trial have for years argued, mostly unsuccessfully, that a series of remarks by political leaders dating back to the Bush administration have contaminated the possibility of finding an impartial jury of U.S. military officers in the death-penalty case.

This week, lawyers for the accused lead 9/11 plotter Khalid Sheik Mohammed took aim at remarks the new CIA Director Gina Haspel made in her Senate confirmation hearings — and asked the trial judge to either dismiss the charges or remove the possibility of a death penalty because of alleged unlawful influence.

“As the court is well aware, since ancient times, as long ago perhaps as Deuteronomy, there’s been a presumption of innocence for those accused in any criminal proceeding,” one of Mohammed’s attorneys, Rita Radostitz, told the judge Monday.