Appeals court unappealing to 9/11 mastermind KSM's plea deal

On Friday, a panel of federal appeals court judges, in a 2-1 gut-punch ruling, obliterated a plea deal that would’ve let 9/11 mastermind and scumcrumpet Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and his co-conspirators dodge the death penalty for guilty pleas. The agreement, hammered out over two grueling years, promised Mohammed and his crew life without parole, a cushy escape from the needle of eternity.

The military prosecution of Mohammed and his fellow plotters has been dragging on for over two decades, mired in endless preliminary hearings and defense lawyers screaming about evidence tainted by torture.

Back in July, the Biden administration’s Defense Department announced pretrial agreements with Mohammed and three other 9/11 orchestrators. But then-Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, in a power move, spiked the deal just two days later, declaring himself the sole gatekeeper of such agreements. 

A military appeals court in December slapped back at Austin’s play, reinstating the plea deal to sidestep execution. But on Friday, the U.S. Court of Appeals D.C. Circuit said, “Not so fast,” torching the agreement and backing Austin’s authority to kill it.

Judges Patricia Millett and Neomi Rao didn’t mince words: “In light of the clear and indisputable errors committed by the military judge, which implicate issues of immense national importance, we conclude that issuance of the writs is appropriate under these circumstances.” Boom. Done.But Judge Robert Wilkins wasn’t having it. He came out swinging in his dissent, calling the majority’s move to overturn a military judge “stunning.” His words cut deep: “Our deference should be at its zenith when military courts follow persuasive military precedent in the construction of military rules. I am befuddled.” Ouch.

Mohammed, the alleged brain behind the deadliest attack on American soil, when hijacked planes slammed into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and a field in Pennsylvania, still sits at the center of this legal storm. And it’s far from over.

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