Appeals Court Refuses to Rehear Bid to Reinstate Guantánamo 9/11 Plea Deal

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit declined on Tuesday to rehear a challenge to a plea deal in the Sept. 11, 2001, case at Guantánamo Bay, leaving the Supreme Court as the last forum that could consider reinstating the agreement. The deal, reached in the summer of 2024 by a senior Pentagon official with Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and two co-defendants, would have had each admit to his role in the plot in exchange for life sentences and the removal of the death penalty.

Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III declared the agreement void days after it was announced, setting off a series of reviews. Two military courts later found Mr. Austin had acted too late and that the contract remained valid; a three-judge panel of the appeals court in July then nullified the deal by a 2-to-1 vote.

On Tuesday the full appeals court rejected a request by Mr. Mohammed, Walid bin Attash and Mustafa al-Hawsawi to rehear the question, by a 7-to-1 vote. The decision most likely means pretrial hearings — largely stalled for more than a year — will resume before the 25th anniversary of the attacks, which killed nearly 3,000 people.

The defendants' lawyers must travel to Guantánamo to meet their clients and consider whether to ask the Supreme Court to review the plea agreement. The next pretrial hearings are scheduled for March 23 to 27; the new judge, Lt. Col. Michael Schrama, has not yet issued an agenda.

Key Topics

Politics, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, Walid Bin Attash, Mustafa Al-hawsawi, Guantanamo Bay, D.c. Circuit