Supreme Court turns away appeal from alleged 9/11 mastermind

Key points

• The Supreme Court declined to hear appeals from Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two alleged accomplices over revoked plea deals.
• The deals would have brought guilty pleas and life sentences, avoiding the death penalty.
• Justice Brett Kavanaugh did not take part in the court's consideration of the appeal.

The Supreme Court on Monday rejected an appeal from accused Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two alleged accomplices, Mustafa al Hawsawi and Walid bin 'Atash, who sought to revive plea agreements that the Biden administration withdrew. In an unsigned order, the justices left standing a lower court ruling that stopped a military judge from enforcing the 2024 pretrial agreements. Justice Brett Kavanaugh did not participate in the court's consideration of the appeal.

With the case turned away, the government's withdrawal of the plea deals remains in effect.

Terms of the agreements

The three men were captured in 2003 and charged before a military commission over their alleged roles in the Sept. 11 attacks, with five charges carrying the death penalty. Their cases have faced long legal delays over whether evidence from their interrogations could be used in court; they were held at secret CIA prisons, where they were subjected to what the article describes as "enhanced interrogation techniques," or torture, before being moved to Guantanamo Bay in 2006 and formally charged in 2008.

In 2023, after retired Brigadier General Susan Escallier became Convening Authority for military commissions, military lawyers began discussing plea deals. Agreements reached in 2024 and approved by Escallier called for the defendants to plead guilty to all charges and serve life sentences, avoiding the death penalty.

The Secretary acted within the bounds of his legal authority, and we decline to second-guess his judgment.

— the D.C. Circuit panel

Legal back and forth

Then-Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin revoked the deals shortly after they were announced. A military judge ruled in November 2024 that the nullification was unlawful, and a military appeals court said Austin could not rescind the agreements because the defendants had begun to perform one of their terms. The Justice Department then asked the D.C. Circuit to intervene.

The D.C. Circuit sided with the government last year, finding that the defense secretary "indisputably" had the authority to withdraw from the plea deals.