Last Thursday, I reported that retired Brig. Gen. Susan Escallier, the Pentagon’s Convening Authority for Military Commissions, had entered into pretrial agreements with Khalid Shaikh Mohammad, Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak Bin ‘Attash, and Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawsawi, three of the co-conspirators in the September 11, 2001 attacks. This was a pivotal moment in the prosecution of the deadliest terrorist attack on US soil and meant that the three masterminds of the attacks would not receive the death penalty (9/11 Masterminds Reach Plea Deal to Evade the Hangman).
But on Friday, Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III overruled Escallier’s decision, took personal control of the case, and revoked the plea deal, reinstating the possibility of capital punishment. He retained Escallier as supervisor for the remaining Guantanamo cases.
Sec. Austin sent Escallier this letter on Friday:
I have determined that, in light of the significance of the decision to enter into pre-trial agreements with the accused in the above-referenced case, responsibility for such a decision should rest with me as the superior convening authority under the Military Commissions Act of 2009. Effective immediately, I hereby withdraw your authority in the above-referenced case to enter into a pre-trial agreement and reserve 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.
The practical application of Austin’s letter, besides being a source of comfort to the families of 9/11 victims who had been pressured by the government to accept that the murderers won’t be executed, is the reopening of the trial, headed by military judge Col. Matthew N. McCall, will resume next week.
Terry Strada, whose husband Tom was killed at the World Trade Center, told the NY Times on Friday, “This is a really welcome development. I’m happy to see the Pentagon getting involved. And glad the death penalty is back on the table. Otherwise, how could we be assured some administration would not commute their sentence or swap them in the future?”
Smart woman.
