US Appeals Court Seeks to Block 9/11 Plea Deals

The Biden administration has requested a federal appeals court to block plea agreements for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind behind the September 11 attacks, along with two co-defendants. The Justice Department argues that accepting the pleas would prevent the government from pursuing capital punishment and deny a public trial for the defendants, who are accused of orchestrating a mass murder that resulted in nearly 3,000 deaths. A military judge at Guantanamo Bay had previously ruled the plea agreements valid, rejecting Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin's attempts to invalidate them. The government's motion seeks to delay the scheduled plea hearing, citing that a short delay would not materially harm the defendants. Legal proceedings in this case have been ongoing since 2012, and a prompt decision from the appeals court is anticipated due to the case's significance. This legal battle highlights ongoing tensions between military and civilian judicial processes regarding high-profile terror cases.