Attorneys say Austin violated military rules in halting deal for alleged 9/11 conspirators

Defense counsel for the alleged 9/11 conspirators at Guantanamo Bay claimed Wednesday that a move by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to revoke a previously-agreed-upon plea deal violated military regulations and exposed the system as “corrupt.”

Defense counsel for the alleged 9/11 conspirators at Guantanamo Bay claimed Wednesday that a move by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to revoke a previously-agreed-upon plea deal violated military regulations and exposed the system as “corrupt.” “We have had an unprecedented act by a government official to pull back what was a valid agreement … For us, it raises very serious questions about continuing to engage in a system that seems so obviously corrupt and rigged,” Walter Ruiz, defense counsel for Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawsawi, said during a hearing at Guantanamo on Wednesday. Wednesday’s pretrial hearing, which has been scheduled for months, followed a whiplash decision by Austin to revoke a plea deal that had been announced just two days prior last week. A press release from the Pentagon originally said that the convening authority for military commissions, Susan Escallier, had entered into pretrial agreements with Khalid Shaikh Mohammad, Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak Bin ‘Attash and Hawsawi. The agreement was the result of more than two years of negotiations. Ruiz noted that parties, including the prosecution, had worked “for years … in good faith” to reach the pretrial agreement, “only to have that taken away.” But the plea deal prompted a fierce backlash, including from both sides of the political aisle and some groups representing 9/11 victims who have pushed for the US government to pursue the death penalty. A short memo from Austin on Friday, which was quietly posted to the Pentagon’s website, said that he was withdrawing Escallier’s authority and reserving “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,” Austin said.