{"id":2344290,"date":"2024-09-21T14:12:01","date_gmt":"2024-09-21T18:12:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/judge-pumps-the-brakes-on-def-sec-austins-attempt-to-interfere-with-alleged-9-11-masterminds-plea-deal\/"},"modified":"2024-09-21T14:13:50","modified_gmt":"2024-09-21T18:13:50","slug":"judge-pumps-the-brakes-on-def-sec-austins-attempt-to-interfere-with-alleged-9-11-masterminds-plea-deal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/judge-pumps-the-brakes-on-def-sec-austins-attempt-to-interfere-with-alleged-9-11-masterminds-plea-deal\/","title":{"rendered":"Judge Pumps the Brakes on Def. Sec. Austin&#8217;s Attempt to Interfere with Alleged 9\/11 Mastermind&#8217;s Plea Deal"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">34<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fjudge-pumps-the-brakes-on-def-sec-austins-attempt-to-interfere-with-alleged-9-11-masterminds-plea-deal%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2344290&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The article discusses Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin&#8217;s recent decision to revoke a plea deal made with the defendants of the\u200b 9\/11 attacks, \u200bincluding Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. The decision, which faced backlash from victims&#8217; families and lawmakers upon \u200cits initial announcement, was made \u2063only days after the deal was\u2062 reached. Military law\u2062 experts\u200c have raised concerns\u2063 about the timing\u200d of Austin&#8217;s intervention, suggesting that it may be too late to reverse the \u200dagreements, as they were considered\u2063 approved by the military commissions&#8217; Convening Authority. \u200bA judge is currently\u200d assessing whether \u200bAustin\u2062 acted within his authority \u2063in this \u200bmatter. Austin defended his choice, stating a commitment to the \u200dvictims and their families, but critics argue\u200c that his late \u2063action \u200dmight lead to the \u200breinstatement of the plea deals due\u2064 to \u2063the\u2064 perception of \u2062undue influence. The \u200cplea deal details remain sealed, though there are calls for its unsealing by various\u2064 media organizations.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<section> <script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC3)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC4)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/audio-911-call-lloyd-austin-released-makes-everything-much-worse\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin<\/a>&rsquo;s decision to revoke a plea deal for 9\/11 defendants likely came too late, military law experts told the Daily Caller News Foundation.<\/p>\n<p>The plea deal for alleged 9\/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two alleged accomplices faced prompt backlash from families of victims and lawmakers when it was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defense.gov\/News\/Releases\/Release\/Article\/3857257\/plea-agreements-reached-with-911-defendants-khalid-shaikh-mohammad-walid-bin-at\/\">announced<\/a> July 31. Days <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2024\/08\/02\/defense-secretary-lloyd-austin-revokes-9-11-plea-deals-death-penalty\/\">later<\/a>,&nbsp;Austin revoked the deal in a memo, writing that the responsibility should rest with him in light of the&nbsp;&ldquo;significance of the decision.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Now, a judge is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/09\/11\/us\/politics\/sept-11-defense-secretary-austin.html\">weighing<\/a> whether Austin had the authority to reverse the deal, the New York Times reported.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;He&rsquo;s reaching in too late in the game, after the deal is already negotiated and approved,&rdquo; Gary Barthel, founder of the Military Law Center, told the DCNF.<\/p>\n<p>Last year, Austin <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defense.gov\/News\/Releases\/Release\/Article\/3507783\/secretary-of-defense-lloyd-j-austin-iii-designates-new-convening-authority-for\/\">designated<\/a> retired Brigadier General Susan Escallie to serve as the Convening Authority for Military Commissions. In that position, she &ldquo;is empowered to convene military commissions, refer charges to trial, negotiate pre-trial agreements, and review records of trial.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>  <script> \t\t\t\tif( ! getCookie( 'ff_subbed' ) ) if( typeof FFADS.replace_ict !='undefined' ) if( FFADS.replace_ict ) eval( FFADS.replace_ict ); \t\t\t<\/script> <\/p>\n<p>Once the convening authority approves an agreement worked out by the parties, it is generally considered a &ldquo;done deal,&rdquo; Barthel explained. Austin could have withheld the case from her authority earlier and brought it to his level to handle issues himself, Barthel said, but instead he just &ldquo;issued an edict that said these plea agreements are improper.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Effective immediately, I hereby withdraw your authority in the above-referenced case to enter into a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/pentagon-fbi-alert-grieving-9-11-families-architect-of-attack-4-others-may-have-death-penalties-overturned\/\" title=\"Pentagon, FBI notify 9\/11 families: Architect of attack and 4 others may have death penalties revoked.\">pre-trial agreement<\/a> and reserve such authority to myself,&rdquo; he wrote in his Aug. 2 memo.<\/p>\n<p>In an order, the judge <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mc.mil\/Portals\/0\/pdfs\/KSM2\/KSM%20II%20(AE955D(Specified%20Issue%20Order)).pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">directed<\/a> parties to consider multiple questions about whether Austin&rsquo;s action was lawful.<\/p>\n<p>The government in a Sept. 6 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mc.mil\/Portals\/0\/pdfs\/KSM2\/KSM%20II%20(AE955G(Gov)).pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">filing<\/a> that Austin &ldquo;had ample authority under the relevant statutes, rules, and regulations to withhold responsibility over pretrial agreements from Ms. Escallier and reserve that responsibility to himself.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The Secretary has principal statutory authority over this process from beginning to end,&rdquo; the filing states.<\/p>\n<p>Defense attorneys are urging the judge to find the plea deals are still valid, arguing Austin made his move too late, according to the NYT.<\/p>\n<p>Barthel says it seems like Austin was &ldquo;out of the loop.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The plea deal did take Austin by surprise, as he only learned it had been signed after the fact, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/08\/04\/us\/politics\/sept-11-plea-agreement.html\">according<\/a> to the NYT.<\/p>\n<p>Imposing his authority after the plea agreements are signed would likely be considered &ldquo;undue influence,&rdquo; Barthel said, which could lead to the judge reinstating the deal.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">9\/11 Widow Slams Biden Admin&rsquo;s Attempted Plea Deals For Gitmo Terrorists <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/ksoYbm27BH\">pic.twitter.com\/ksoYbm27BH<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DailyCaller\/status\/1833913105107362090?\">September 11, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Austin defended his decision at an event Aug. 6, stating he has &ldquo;long believed that the families of the victims, our service members, and the American public deserve the opportunity to see military commissions, commission trials carried out,&rdquo; <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/911-plea-deal-austin-guantanamo-4f43d5391ab5c02cde2cbddf5376c699\">according<\/a> to the Associated Press.<\/p>\n<p>Eugene R. Fidell, who teaches military law at Yale Law School, likewise told the DCNF that Austin&rsquo;s decision was made too late.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;If he was this worked up about it, then he shouldn&rsquo;t have designated somebody else to decide the cases,&rdquo; Fidell said.<\/p>\n<p>The plea deal itself remains sealed, though multiple media organizations <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ap.org\/media-center\/ap-in-the-news\/2024\/news-organizations-seek-unsealing-of-plea-deal-with-9-11-defendants\/\">motioned<\/a> to make it public.<\/p>\n<div class=\"disclaimer\">\n<p>All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-weighs-in-on-deadly-subway-clash-after-desantis-calls-marine-a-good-samaritan\/\" title=\"Trump Weighs In on Deadly Subway Clash After DeSantis Calls Marine a &#039;Good Samaritan&#039;\">nonpartisan newswire service<\/a>, is available without charge to any <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/union-membership-plummets-to-record-low\/\" title=\"Union Membership Plummets to Record Low\">legitimate news publisher<\/a> that can provide a large audience. 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The plea agreement involving Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who is accused of masterminding the 9\/11 attacks, and two alleged co-conspirators was met with immediate criticism from victims&#8217; families and lawmakers when it was revealed on July 31. Shortly after, Austin retracted the deal in a memo, stating that he felt it was his responsibility due to the &#8220;significance of the decision.&#8221; Currently, a judge is deliberating whether Austin had the authority to overturn this agreement, as reported by The New York Times. Gary Barthel, founder of the Military Law Center, commented that Austin intervened too late since negotiations had already concluded and been approved. Last year, Austin appointed retired Brigadier General Susan Escallier as Convening Authority for Military Commissions; she has significant powers including convening commissions and negotiating pre-trial agreements. Once an agreement is approved by this authority, it is typically regarded as final. Barthel noted that while Austin could have taken control earlier in order to address concerns directly rather than simply declaring existing agreements improper through an edict on August 2nd\u2014where he stated he would withdraw Escallier&#8217;s authority over pre-trial agreements\u2014he chose not to do so.<\/p>\n<p>The judge has instructed involved parties to consider various legal questions regarding whether Austin\u2019s actions were lawful. In a filing dated September 6th, government representatives argued that he possessed sufficient authority under relevant laws and regulations to assume control over pretrial agreements from Escallier. They asserted that &#8220;the Secretary has principal statutory authority over this process from beginning to end.&#8221; Defense attorneys are advocating for recognition of the validity of these plea deals based on claims that Austin acted too late; Barthel suggested it appears as though Austin was unaware of developments surrounding these deals until after they were finalized.<\/p>\n<p>Austin defended his actions during an event on August 6th by expressing his belief that victims&#8217; families and service members deserve transparency in military commission trials. Eugene R. Fidell from Yale Law School echoed sentiments about timing being critical in decision-making processes like these; if there were serious concerns about such deals being made without oversight or approval from higher authorities like himself earlier on then appointing someone else for those decisions seems contradictory.<\/p>\n<p>The details surrounding this sealed plea deal remain undisclosed despite requests from several media outlets seeking its release<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2344291,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Picture-3.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[41417,41416,5387,32538],"class_list":["post-2344290","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-9-11-mastermind","tag-def-sec-austin","tag-judge","tag-plea-deal"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Picture-3.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2344290","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2344290"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2344290\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2344291"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2344290"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2344290"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2344290"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}