A plea deal reached this week The Pentagon announced Friday that it has retracted any involvement in the September 11 attacks, including that of the alleged mastermind of the attacks and two of his alleged accomplices.
In a memo, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said that the “three pre-trial agreements” approved with Khalid Shaikh Mohammad – the man accused of planning the attacks – and Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak Bin ‘Attash and Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawsawi, had been canceled.
The memo was addressed to retired Brig. Gen. Susan Escallier, the convening authority for the military commissions that oversaw the deal. Austin wrote that he was withdrawing his “authority” in the matter and reserving “that authority” for himself.
The military commission at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, on Wednesday sent letters to the families of the nearly 3,000 people killed in al-Qaida attacks and said the plea deal stipulated that all three would serve life in prison.
Some families of victims of the attacks decried the deal, which would have ended any possibility of a full trial and possible death sentences. Republicans quickly blamed the Biden administration for the deal, though the White House said after it was announced that it had no knowledge of it.
In setting aside the plea deal, Austin wrote in the order that “given the importance of the decision,” he decided the authority to make a decision on whether to accept plea deals rested with him.
Mohammed and the other defendants were expected to formally plead guilty as part of the deal as early as next week.
The US Military Commission supervise files Since 2008, five 9/11 defendants have been stuck in pretrial hearings and other court proceedings. The torture the defendants endured while in CIA custody has slowed the cases and left the prospects for full trials and verdicts uncertain, in part because evidence of torture is inadmissible.
Earlier Friday, the Republican-led House Oversight and Accountability Committee, announcement She launched an investigation to determine whether the White House was involved in the plea deal.
