The Pentagon is asking a federal appeals court to block a military judge’s plan to accept plea deals reached with a 9/11 mastermind and two other defendants in the attacks.
In an emergency filing with the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, the department — represented by Justice Department attorneys — asked the federal judges to take an extraordinary step and declare that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s decision to revoke the plea agreements can be reinstated.
“That ruling countermands the Secretary’s considered judgment about the appropriate handling of a case of unique national importance,” Brian Fletcher, principal deputy solicitor general, wrote. “Preserving the Secretary of Defense’s authority to make fundamental decisions about the handling of the prosecutions of the individuals allegedly responsible for those attacks is a matter of critical importance warranting the issuance of extraordinary relief.”
Austin withdrew the pre-trial agreements in August made with the defendants, who are all being held in Guantanamo Bay.
But aNovember ruling concluded the plea agreements were valid and dismissed Austin’s order to throw them out.
And in December, a military appeals court ruled against Austin’s appeal to throw out plea deals for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two other defendants in the 9/11 attacks. The ruling reinstated the decision to allow the three men to plead guilty and potentially avoid the death penalty for planning the al-Qaeda attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people on Sept. 11, 2001.
The Defense Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.