Federal appeals court: Austin had no legal authority to halt plea deal sparing 9/11 mastermind of death penalty

GUANTANAMO BAY, CUBA - Last year, a deal was struck between the Biden administration and detainees being held at a detention facility in Guantanamo Bay. One of those detainees includes 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammad.

After the deal was struck, the administration was eviscerated by conservatives and families of 9/11 victims. After the public outcry, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin attempted to have the plea deals rescinded. 

Fox News Digital reports that last week, a military appeals court ruled that Austin acted outside of his authority in rescinding the plea deals agreed upon between military prosecutors and defense attorneys. The court opinion has not yet been formally published. 

The Pentagon can file an emergency review with the DC Circuit Court of Appeals. As of last week, that appeal had not yet been filed. 

Under the plea agreements, Mohammad and two other 9/11 defendants would be spared the death penalty in exchange for pleading guilty to orchestrating the deadly terror attacks that directly killed nearly 3,000 Americans and killed additional first responders who have died from 9/11-related illness from working at the scene of the World Trade Center collapses in New York City. 

Supporters of the plea agreements believe it is a way to resolve the cases against the three, who have been stalling their trials for all of twenty years. According to WVTM, pretrial hearings for Mohammed, Walid bin Attash, and Mustafa al-Hawsawi have been ongoing for over ten years. 

The pre-trial arguments have centered on alleged torture against the three terrorists by the CIA in the early years of their detention. Some believe that it may taint the overall evidence of the case. 

After the plea deals were announced, Austin said he was nullifying them. He noted the gravity of the 9/11 attacks and claimed that as Defense Secretary, he should have input on any plea agreements designed to avoid the death penalty. 

Defense lawyers argued, however, that Austin had no standing to reject a decision already affirmed by Guantanamo Bay’s top legal authority and called his move unlawful interference in the case. 

A military judge hearing the 9/11 case, Air Force Col. Matthew McCall, agreed that Austin lacked standing to toss the plea bargains, leading to the Defense Department’s appeal to the appellate court. 

Meanwhile, the Pentagon shipped one of the longest-held Club Gitmo detainees back to his country. Ridah bin Saleh al-Yazidi was returned to Tunisia. That leaves 26 men still being detained at Gitmo. At one time, 700 Muslim men were detained abroad and brought to the facility in the years after the 9/11 attacks. 

Out of the 26 men still detained, 14 await transfer to other countries after US authorities waived any prosecution and cleared them as security risks. The Biden administration, in the last throes of its reign, appears to be bowing to pressure from radical groups pushing to close Gitmo and is looking for “suitable and stable countries willing to receive the remaining 14,” WVTM said.