by Holly Barker at Bloomberg
Former US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin III was well within his authority when he withdrew from controversial plea deals with three men accused of orchestrating the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, a federal appeals court said Friday.
“While mandamus and prohibition are extraordinary forms of relief, they are warranted in this case,” the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit said, vacating a military judge’s November 2024 order preventing the Defense Secretary’s withdrawal from the pretrial agreements.
The military judge is also prohibited from conducting hearings in which the accused would enter guilty pleas or take any other actions related to the withdrawn agreements.
Accused 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammad and two of his codefendants,…
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