A stunning backtrack Friday on the plea deal that Pentagon prosecutors agreed to with three of the terrorists behind the Sept. 11 terror attacks who were awaiting trial in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.
The deal that stirred national outrage and took the death penalty off of the table has been revoked by Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III in a terse memo.
Secretary Austin III is now taking the lead on the case for 9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammad, Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak Bin 'Attash, and Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawsawi.
In his order, Austin relieved the official in charge of the military commission who had signed off on the original plea deals.
"Effective immediately, in the exercise of my authority, I hereby withdraw from the three pretrial agreements that you signed on July 31, 2024," the letter from the Secretary of Defense reads.
