The U.S. government may proceed with controversial plea agreements involving three men accused of planning the 9/11 attacks, following a ruling from a Defense Department appeals court.
This unanimous decision, issued on Monday evening, criticized Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin for attempting to block the plea deals in August, despite prior approval by a judge overseeing the cases.
The plea agreements involve Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind behind the 9/11 attacks, along with two accomplices, Walid bin Attash and Mustafa al-Hawsawi. Under the terms of the deal, the men would serve life sentences in exchange for admitting their roles in the al-Qaeda plot, which killed 2,977 people. The hijackers flew two planes into the World Trade Center in New York, a third into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, and the fourth, intended for a government building in Washington, DC, crashed into a field.
Austin had argued that the victims’ families and those affected by the resulting wars deserved to see the men stand trial. However, the appeals court ruled that while Austin could limit future pretrial agreements, he did not have the authority to invalidate those already approved. The court emphasized that the men’s confessions would make a new trial impossible.
A senior defense official, who spoke anonymously, said the Defense and Justice Departments are reviewing the court’s decision and weighing their next steps. The U.S. government filed a motion to delay the plea agreements until January 27 to allow time for further consideration. A motions hearing for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed’s case is set for January 6.
The appeals court’s decision supported an earlier ruling by Air Force Col. Matthew McCall, a military commission judge, who found the plea deals valid in November. McCall stated that allowing Austin to rescind the agreements would grant him an “absolute veto” over any discretionary decisions made by the appointed officer overseeing the cases. The Pentagon’s appeal of McCall’s ruling led to the appeals court’s involvement.
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, once one of the most wanted terrorists, was captured in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, in March 2003 and transferred to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where he has remained since.
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