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



Trump Sets New Deadline of 10 or 12 Days for Russia to Act on Ukraine

 In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, firefighters put out the fire in a fire department school following a Russian air attack in Kropyvnytskyi, Ukraine, Monday, July 28, 2025. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, firefighters put out the fire in a fire department school following a Russian air attack in Kropyvnytskyi, Ukraine, Monday, July 28, 2025. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
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Trump Sets New Deadline of 10 or 12 Days for Russia to Act on Ukraine

 In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, firefighters put out the fire in a fire department school following a Russian air attack in Kropyvnytskyi, Ukraine, Monday, July 28, 2025. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, firefighters put out the fire in a fire department school following a Russian air attack in Kropyvnytskyi, Ukraine, Monday, July 28, 2025. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)

US President Donald Trump set a new deadline on Monday of 10 or 12 days for Russia to make progress toward ending the war in Ukraine or face consequences, underscoring frustration with Russian President Vladimir Putin for the 3-1/2-year-old conflict.

Trump has threatened both sanctions on Russia and buyers of its exports unless progress is made. The fresh deadline suggests the US president is prepared to move forward on those threats after previous hesitation to do so.

Speaking in Scotland, where he is holding meetings with European leaders and playing golf, Trump said he was disappointed in Putin and shortening a 50-day deadline he had set on the issue earlier this month.

"I'm going to make a new deadline of about ... 10 or 12 days from today," Trump told reporters during a meeting with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. "There's no reason in waiting... We just don't see any progress being made."

There was no immediate comment from the Kremlin.

Ukraine welcomed the statement. Andriy Yermak, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's chief of staff, thanked Trump in a social media post for "standing firm and delivering a clear message of peace through strength."

Trump, who has expressed annoyance also with Zelenskiy, has not always followed tough talk about Putin with action, citing what he deems a good relationship that the two men have had previously.

On Monday, Trump indicated he was not interested in more talks with Putin. He said sanctions and tariffs would be used as penalties for Moscow if it did not meet Trump's demands.

"There's no reason to wait. If you know what the answer is going to be, why wait? And it would be sanctions and maybe tariffs, secondary tariffs," Trump said. "I don't want to do that to Russia. I love the Russian people."

Ukraine had proposed a summit between Putin and Zelenskiy before the end of August, but the Kremlin has said that timeline was unlikely and that a meeting could only happen as a final step to clinch peace.

Russia's foreign ministry said on Saturday that if the West wanted real peace with Ukraine, it would stop supplying Kyiv with weapons.

Trump has repeatedly voiced exasperation with Putin for pursuing attacks on Ukraine despite US efforts to end the war. Trump has played up successes in other parts of the world where the United States has helped to broker peace agreements and has been flattered by some leaders who suggest he should be given the Nobel Peace Prize.

"I'm disappointed in President Putin," Trump said on Monday. "I'm going to reduce that 50 days that I gave him to a lesser number because I think I already know the answer what's going to happen."

Trump, who is also struggling to achieve a peace deal in Gaza, has touted his role in ending conflicts between India and Pakistan as well as Rwanda and Congo. Before returning to the White House in January, Trump campaigned on a promise to end Russia's conflict with Ukraine in a day.

"We thought we had that settled numerous times, and then President Putin goes out and starts launching rockets into some city like Kyiv and kills a lot of people in a nursing home or whatever," Trump said. "And I say that's not the way to do it."