9/11 plotters' plea deals valid, military judge rules

A military judge has ruled that plea agreements in the 9/11 case were valid, making it possible for the three prisoners accused of helping to plot the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks to be sentenced to life in prison instead of death.

Col. Matthew McCall ruled Wednesday that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was too late and acting beyond his authority when he revoked the three separate pretrial agreements for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Walid Muhammad Salih bin Roshayed bin Attash, and Mustafa al-Hawsawi on Aug. 2. Austin pulled the deals two days after a senior Pentagon appointee, retired Brig. Gen. Susan K. Escallier, signed them.

McCall said he would allow the three men to appear before his court to enter their pleas separately.

His decision adds another page to the complicated and long-running case against Mohammed and four others charged in 2012 with conspiring in the 9/11 attacks. The men are currently being held at the infamous Guantánamo Bay facility.

The three accused prisoners in Wednesday’s ruling were all charged jointly in 2008 and again in 2012 in connection to the attacks, which killed nearly 3,000 people after the terrorist group al Qaeda hijacked two planes and crashed them into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center.

But the case was bogged down by litigation over the CIA’s torture of the defendants among other issues, leading prosecutors to reach a deal with the defendants this summer after two years of negotiations.

But Escallier’s approval of the plea deal drew blowback from some families of victims, New York City firefighters and high-profile Republicans. Some critics said the agreement would seal information and prevent the public from ever knowing what really happened 23 years ago.

Austin quickly moved to pull the agreement, saying at the time he believes that given the significance of the case, responsibility on what happens to the prisoners held at Guantánamo Bay “should rest with me as the superior authority under the Military Commissions Act of 2009.”

McCall, however, said Escallier “possessed the legal authority” to sign the agreements.

It’s unclear if the Pentagon will move to appeal the judge’s decision, and Rear Adm. Aaron Rugh, the chief prosecutor for military commissions, said his team was “discussing next steps,” The New York Times reported.