U.S. Defense Lloyd J. Austin Overrides Plea Agreement With 9/11 Mastermind & Two Others & Reinstates Death Penalty

Saturday, August 3, 2024, 9:00 A.M. ET. 3 Minute Read, By Jennifer Hodges: Englebrook Independent News,

WASHINGTON, DC.- On Friday, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin, III revoked the plea agreement that was reached this week for the mastermind of the September 11, 2001, terror attacks on the United States and two others who were also charged in connection with the attacks, reinstating the death penalty for all three defendants.

     Austin’s announcement on Friday comes just two days after the U.S. Military Commission at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba announced that it had reached plea agreements with Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, Walid bin Attash, and Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawsawi for plotting the attacks. 

     The cases against the three and another two defendants overseen by the U.S. Military Commission have been in pretrial hearings since 2008. Lawyers for the defendants have claimed that the torture they underwent while in CIA custody made any evidence obtained by the torture inadmissible at trial. Such claims by the defense left trial and and potential verdicts uncertain.

     Letters were sent to the families of the over 2,900 people who were killed in the attacks that the plea agreement stipulated that the three defendants would receive life sentences instead of the death penalty.

     Austin, in an order he submitted on Friday and was released last night, had decided that, in light of the significance of the decision, he had the authority to decide on accepting the plea agreement, and therefore, I nullified the agreement.

     Following the announcement on Thursday by the Military Commission triggered outrage from the victim’s families as well as both Republican and Democratic Lawmakers. The destain felt by not only the victim’s family members and lawmakers but most Americans may have prompted Austin to revoke the plea agreement.

     Just two days ago, Admiral John Kirby, during a White House press briefing, tried to divert attention away from President Biden by stating that the U.S. Military Commission made its own decision in entering into the plea agreement and does not need the administration’s approval.

     Since President Joe Biden is the Commander in Chief, that means the Military Commission falls under his command. With Friday’s revocation of the plea deal, the case should move forward to trial now, hopefully.