Supreme Court rejects KSM's bid to revive 9/11 plea deal

The Supreme Court on Monday rejected an attempt by Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the self-proclaimed mastermind of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, to reinstate a controversial plea deal that would have spared him the death penalty. Mohammed is currently slated to face a military trial on June 5, 2028, after more than two decades of detention at the U.S. naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

There were no stated dissents from the court's decision. Justice Brett Kavanaugh recused himself from the case. Kavanaugh was part of the George W. Bush White House counsel's office at the time of Mohammed's capture in 2003.

Mohammed, often referred to as "KSM," along with co-defendants Walid bin Attash and Mustafa al-Hawsawi, had reached an agreement with the Office of Military Commissions on July 31, 2024. This deal would have allowed them to plead guilty and receive a life sentence without the possibility of parole for their roles in the attacks that killed 2,977 people. The attacks targeted the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and locations in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

Two days after the plea agreement was announced, then-Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin rescinded it, stating that only the Pentagon chief had the authority to approve such deals. A divided panel of the D.C. appeals court upheld Austin's decision last year, leaving the Supreme Court as Mohammed's final recourse.

The trial of Mohammed has been significantly delayed for nearly 25 years due to ongoing disputes over the admissibility of evidence. Many of these disputes concern statements obtained during CIA "enhanced interrogation" sessions. Mohammed and four other defendants were initially charged in 2008, with a subsequent recharge occurring four years later.

In August, a military judge dismissed statements made by KSM to the FBI in 2007, ruling they were not voluntarily given. The judge determined these statements were made four years after Mohammed's capture and were tainted by the circumstances of his detention and interrogation.

Mohammed, described by a 2004 bipartisan commission report as the "principal architect of the 9/11 attacks," faces charges including 2,977 counts of murder, terrorism, and violations of the law of war. In a 2007 military hearing, Mohammed reportedly stated, "I was responsible for the 9/11 operation, from A to Z." He also expressed regret for the deaths of children killed in the attacks and claimed he did not like to kill people.