Military appeals court allows 9/11 plea deals to stand

A U.S. military appeals court ruled Monday to reinstate federal plea deals for Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two other co-conspirators. Although the ruling itself was not immediately made public, officials anonymously discussed it with Associated Press reporters.

Mohammed and the two co-defendants agreed this summer to plead guilty to their roles in planning and executing the 2001 terror attacks on the condition that the death penalty be removed as a sentencing option. The deals sparked public outrage and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin soon revoked the deals. Austin cited the Military Commissions Act of 2009 and argued that decisions in a case of such magnitude should rest with him, according to a defense office memo.

However, the military court’s Monday ruling revoked Austin’s veto and reinstated the deals, allowing the confessed 9/11 conspirators to escape the death penalty. The ruling will also allow a hearing to take place next week for Mohammed, according to the New York Times.

Why would a military court rule in favor of 9/11 terrorists? The ruling comes weeks after Air Force Col. Matthew McCall ruled to revisit the deals’ validity. McCall ruled that the defense secretary did not have absolute power to veto anything with which he happened to disagree. Austin's overriding decisions made by the officials he appointed did not align with the independence that comes with their appointments, McCall argued.

Dig deeper: Read Lauren Canterberry’s original report about officials first considering the controversial plea deals back in 2023. Also, read Emma Freire’s report in WORLD Magazine about how 9/11 turned the FBI into a political weapon.