Appeals court temporarily blocks controversial Sept 11 plea deal with alleged terrorists

A federal appeals court on Thursday temporarily blocked the plea deal that the Defense Department offered three alleged 9/11 terrorists, which would eliminate the death penalty in exchange for guilty pleas and life sentences.

The ruling comes after the Justice Department asked the federal court to intervene, after a military appeals court last month declined to overturn a lower court's ruling that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin lacked the proper authority to revoke a plea deal made with the alleged terrorists. Austin initially attempted to revoke the plea deal last August.

The Justice Department argued in its brief that the government would be irreparably harmed if the guilty pleas were accepted, and would rob the department of holding a public trial and the opportunity to “seek capital punishment against three men charged with a heinous act of mass murder that caused the death of thousands of people and shocked the nation and the world."

The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals wrote in the Thursday ruling that it has granted the stay for now, but that it was only in place until a full decision could be made, according to The Hill.

The block comes one day before alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed could enter the plea, which would have taken place at the U.S. naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, on Friday.

The two other defendants, who are considered co-conspirators, would enter theirs next week. 

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.