9/11 Attack Planners' Plea Deals Can Proceed, Appeals Court Says

The Defense Department’s appeals court has sanctioned plea deals for three individuals implicated in the planning of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. This move comes despite the Biden administration’s efforts to obstruct the agreements.

What Happened: The unanimous verdict was announced on Monday, dealing a blow to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, The Washington Post reported. Austin intervened in the cases in August after a judge he assigned approved the agreements.

The court determined that Austin, while having the authority to stop Judge Susan K. Escallier from making future pretrial agreements on behalf of the U.S. government, could not retroactively cancel them, the Post report said.

The accused, including the alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, have already confessed their guilt, which weakens any additional proceedings against them.

The Pentagon was assessing the decision on Tuesday, as per a senior U.S. defense official who wished to remain anonymous due to the sensitive nature of the matter, the Post report said.

The department did not initially react to the ruling. A motions hearing in Mohammed's case is scheduled to commence on Jan. 6.

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As per the plea deals, Mohammed, along with two other defendants, Walid bin Attash and Mustafa al-Hawsawi, would be sentenced to life imprisonment for confessing to killing nearly 3,000 people in an al-Qaeda plot.

The three accused continue to be among the most notorious inmates at a detention facility on the U.S. naval base in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.

Why It Matters: The court’s decision to approve the plea deals marks a significant milestone in the longstanding legal proceedings against the accused 9/11 planners. This development could potentially influence the course of future terrorism-related cases, particularly those involving pretrial agreements.

Furthermore, the ruling underscores the limitations of executive power in influencing judicial decisions, even in matters of national security.

Read Next:

• 9/11 Mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed And Co-Conspirators Reach Plea Deals To Evade Death Penalty

Image via The U.S. National Archives.

This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.