XPost: alt.security.terrorism, or.politics, sac.politics
XPost: talk.politics.guns
Austin tried to rescind deals for Guantanamo Bay detainees including
alleged 9/11 architect Khalid Sheikh Mohammad
A military appeals court ruled on Tuesday that Defense Secretary Lloyd
Austin cannot rescind the plea deals of detainees at Guantanamo Bay
including alleged 9/11 architect Khalid Sheikh Mohammad, Fox News has
learned.
The court opinion, which has not been formally published yet, said the
plea deals reached by military prosecutors and defense attorneys were
valid and enforceable, and that Austin exceeded his authority when he
later tried to nullify them.
The Pentagon has the option of going next to the D.C. Circuit federal
appeals court for emergency review, but the court docket did not show any filings as of Tuesday afternoon.
A hearing is scheduled next week at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where Mohammad
and two other defendants could plead guilty in separate hearings, with the death penalty removed as a possible punishment.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin in Israel
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin tried to revoke the 9/11 plea deals in
July. (Reuters/Violeta Santos Moura)
The plea deals in the long-running case against the terrorists were struck
over the summer and approved by the top official of the Gitmo military commission.
The plea deals have been condemned by a number of 9/11 victims and U.S. politicians.
Mohammed after capture
A photo obtained March 1, 2003, shows Khalid Sheikh Mohammed shortly after
his capture. (HO/AFP via Getty Images)
"Joe Biden, Kamala Harris have weaponized the Department of Justice to go
after their political opponents, but theyÆre cutting a sweetheart deal
with 9/11 terrorists," now Vice President-elect JD Vance said at the time.
The Pentagon revoked the deals in July. "Effective immediately, in the
exercise of my authority, I hereby withdraw from the three pretrial
agreements that you signed on July 31, 2024," a letter from Austin states.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/military-appeals-court-rules-defense-sec- austin-cannot-rescind-911-plea-deals
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