Defense secretary overturns plea deals for three 9/11 terrorists and puts death penalty back on the table

Lloyd Austin revoked some plea agreements with terrorists involved in the September 11, 2001 attacks. With this action, the Secretary of Defense put the death penalty back on the table for Khalid Shaikh Mohammad, Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak Bin 'Attash and Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawsawi.

Austin announced his decision through a statement, which he released on Friday, Aug. 2. "I have determined that, in light of the significance of the decision to enter into pre-trial agreements with the accused in the above-referenced case, responsibility for such a decision should rest with me as the superior convening authority under the Military Commissions Act of 2009," he wrote. 

"Effective immediately, I hereby withdraw your authority in the above-referenced case to enter into a pre-trial agreement and reserve such authority to myself. Effective immediately, in the exercise of my authority, I hereby withdraw from the three pre-trial agreements that you signed on July 31, 2024 in the above referenced case," he added. 

As reported by Fox News, the three men are being held at Guantanamo Bay.  They are charged with providing training, financial support and other assistance to the 19 terrorists who hijacked airliners and crashed them into the World Trade Center in New York City, the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, and a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, on Sept. 11, 2001, leaving nearly 3,000 dead. 

The Biden administration had been heavily criticized for reaching the plea agreements last Wednesday. One of the most critical was Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Senate minority leader. 

"The Biden-Harris Administration’s weakness in the face of sworn enemies of the American people apparently knows no bounds. (....) The plea deal with terrorists – including Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks that killed thousands of Americans – is a revolting abdication of the government’s responsibility to defend America and provide justice," the Kentucky Republican argued, also adding that "the only thing worse than negotiating with terrorists is negotiating with them after they are in custody."

Mike Rogers (R-AL), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, had recently pressed Austin to review such agreements, which he described as "a punch in the gut for many of the victims' families."

"It is unconscionable that the Biden-Harris Administration would allow such a plea deal. Your department allowed a plea deal with Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and his band of killers," he wrote in a letter he sent to the Defense Secretary himself.

He assured that this kind of agreement "gives hope to terrorists around the world that the United States is not willing to hold the worst of the worst accountable for their wicked crimes."

Many Republicans, including Rudy Giuliani and Richard Grenell, among others celebrated Austin's announcement.