Sept. 11 Judge Delays Retirement, Positioning him to Decide Case-Turning Issues

Col. Matthew N. McCall. The New York Times
Col. Matthew N. McCall. The New York Times
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Sept. 11 Judge Delays Retirement, Positioning him to Decide Case-Turning Issues

Col. Matthew N. McCall. The New York Times
Col. Matthew N. McCall. The New York Times

By Carol Rosenberg

The judge in the Sept. 11 case has announced that he will stay on the bench through 2024, providing continuity as pretrial litigation wraps up crucial issues. Col. Matthew N. McCall, the fourth military officer to preside in the long-running case, had initially planned to retire from the Air Force next month.

Why It Matters: Continuity at a key time.

Colonel McCall has been on the case since August 2021. He has displayed a deep understanding of both the obstacles to a trial and the record his three predecessors built after arraignment in 2012.

He was initially expected to retire in April, a timetable that would have left it to a fifth judge to make key decisions — after absorbing hundreds of pages of filings and exhibits and more than 42,000 pages of public and classified transcripts. Now, Colonel McCall can proceed with witness testimony in open and closed sessions and legal arguments for at least 19 more weeks in 2024.

What Happens Next: Hearings and, probably, rulings.

The timetable positions Colonel McCall to wrap up witness testimony and decide whether prosecutors can use confessions made in 2007 by Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, who is accused of masterminding the Sept. 11 plot, and three co-defendants, at the eventual trial. The men spent years in detention in CIA prisons, where they were tortured. Then so-called clean teams at Guantánamo Bay questioned them without threats or violence in their fourth year in US custody.

Two other key issues are reaching decision points. One is whether restrictions imposed on defense lawyers prevent the defendants from getting a fair trial. In 2018, the first judge threw out the 2007 confessions for that reason. His successors have been revisiting that question ever since.

The other issue is whether what was done to the Sept. 11 defendants in their first years in US custody constitutes “outrageous government conduct.” Lawyers for one defendant, Mustafa al-Hawsawi, have presented their argument to the judge, who has yet to rule. The delay could give the other three defense teams time to do the same.

What We Don’t Know: The fate of pretrial litigation.

Colonel McCall could order a range of remedies if he rules against the government on those three crossroads questions. He could exclude the 2007 clean-team statements, which an Army judge did last year in Guantánamo’s other capital case, forcing a higher court appeal. He could reduce the maximum possible sentence for a conviction to life in prison, instead of death; or he could dismiss the case.

The New York Times



Rescuers Search for 19 Missing, Recover 9 Bodies after Nepal Flooding

Rescuers evacuate stranded people from the site of a mudslide at the Gyirong Port area in Gyirong Township of Xigaze, Xizang Autonomous Region, China, 08 July 2025. EPA/XINHUA / Xu Dafu
Rescuers evacuate stranded people from the site of a mudslide at the Gyirong Port area in Gyirong Township of Xigaze, Xizang Autonomous Region, China, 08 July 2025. EPA/XINHUA / Xu Dafu
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Rescuers Search for 19 Missing, Recover 9 Bodies after Nepal Flooding

Rescuers evacuate stranded people from the site of a mudslide at the Gyirong Port area in Gyirong Township of Xigaze, Xizang Autonomous Region, China, 08 July 2025. EPA/XINHUA / Xu Dafu
Rescuers evacuate stranded people from the site of a mudslide at the Gyirong Port area in Gyirong Township of Xigaze, Xizang Autonomous Region, China, 08 July 2025. EPA/XINHUA / Xu Dafu

Dozens of rescuers searched the banks of a mountain river Wednesday looking for people missing after monsoon floods swept away Nepal's main bridge connecting to the country to China and caused at least nine deaths.

Police said dozens of rescuers were already at the area and more are expected to join the rescue efforts. Nine dead bodies have been recovered from the river. Security forces have rescued 55 people, including four Indians and a Chinese person so far, according to the Rasuwa District Administration Office.

Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Oli, along with top ministers and officials, flew to the area, The Associated Press reported. Oli called an emergency meeting Tuesday night and instructed all security forces and government offices to assist the rescue and recovery efforts.

The flooding on the Bhotekoshi River early Tuesday destroyed the Friendship Bridge at Rasuwagadi, which is 120 kilometers (75 miles) north of the capital, Kathmandu. Several houses and trucks that were parked at the border for customs inspections also were swept away. Hundreds of electric vehicles imported from China had been parked at the border point.

The 19 missing are 13 Nepali citizens and six Chinese nationals, said the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority.

The Chinese and eight of the Nepalis were workers at a Chinese-assisted construction project on the Nepali side of the border, according to the Chinese Embassy in Nepal, quoted by state media.

The destruction of the bridge has halted all trade from China to Nepal through this route. The longer alternative is for goods to be shipped from China to India and then brought overland to Nepal.