Military Judge Revives Plea Deals for Alleged 9/11 Mastermind, Accomplices

A military judge has revived a set of plea deals for three defendants standing trial for the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, after Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin previously intervened to block the plea agreements. On July 31, the Pentagon announced Susan Escallier—the convening authority for military commissions, which oversees the 9/11 trials—had approved pretrial agreements with Khalid Shaikh (Sheikh) Mohammad, Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak Bin ‘Attash, and Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawsawi. The defendants are charged with conspiracy, attacking civilians, intentionally causing serious bodily injury, murder in violation of the law of war, hijacking or hazarding a vessel or aircraft, and terrorism in an attack on U.S. soil that killed nearly 3,000 people and left many more wounded. The plea agreements would spare the defendants the risk of the death penalty in exchange for their guilty pleas....