US Senator Urges Settlement for Accused 9/11 Plotters

Senator Richard J. Durbin. Photo: The New York Times
Senator Richard J. Durbin. Photo: The New York Times
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US Senator Urges Settlement for Accused 9/11 Plotters

Senator Richard J. Durbin. Photo: The New York Times
Senator Richard J. Durbin. Photo: The New York Times

By Carol Rosenberg

The departing chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee has asked Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III to support a settlement with the man accused of masterminding the Sept. 11 attacks, a move that would allow guilty pleas to go forward in the last days of the Biden administration.

“Far too many family members have died waiting for the military commission trial at Guantánamo to start — let alone deliver justice,” Senator Richard J. Durbin, Democrat of Illinois, wrote in a letter on Wednesday. He said the families of those killed on Sept. 11 had suffered “two decades of delays and false promises” in the case, which has spent more than a decade in pretrial proceedings to sort out if the CIA’s torture of defendants tainted potential trial evidence.

There has never been a unified view among the thousands of family members on how the case should be resolved. Some want what prosecutors have called judicial finality, through guilty pleas that cannot be appealed. Others, including Mr. Austin, insist on an eventual military commissions trial. Either way, some family members have described the continuing litigation over the plea deal as agonizing.

On July 31, retired Brig. Gen. Susan K. Escallier, whom Mr. Austin had put in charge of the military commissions, approved the settlement with Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the man accused of masterminding the plot, and two men accused of conspiring with him. All three agreed to plead guilty to their specific roles in the plot in exchange for a life sentence without the possibility of appeal or release, rather than eventually face a potential death penalty trial.

Mr. Austin revoked the deal two days later. But the military judge in the case, Col. Matthew N. McCall, ruled on Nov. 6 that Mr. Austin had acted too late.

Now case prosecutors have asked a Pentagon appellate panel to stop the judge from going forward with plea proceedings early next year.

Their brief reflects Mr. Austin’s sentiment that as defense secretary, he had the authority to retroactively cancel the deals because of the significance of the case, which accuses the three men as serving as “counselors, commanders, and conspirators in the murder of 2,976 people, the injury of scores of civilians and military personnel and the destruction of private property worth tens of billions of dollars.”

Mr. Durbin said in his letter that he had followed the military commissions “closely for more than two decades.”

“In all these years,” he wrote, “the prospects of a meaningful trial and a verdict in the 9/11 case that could be upheld on appeal has only grown more elusive.”

The departing chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee has asked Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III to support a settlement with the man accused of masterminding the Sept. 11 attacks, a move that would allow guilty pleas to go forward in the last days of the Biden administration.

“Far too many family members have died waiting for the military commission trial at Guantánamo to start — let alone deliver justice,” Senator Richard J. Durbin, Democrat of Illinois, wrote in a letter on Wednesday. He said the families of those killed on Sept. 11 had suffered “two decades of delays and false promises” in the case, which has spent more than a decade in pretrial proceedings to sort out if the CIA’s torture of defendants tainted potential trial evidence.

There has never been a unified view among the thousands of family members on how the case should be resolved. Some want what prosecutors have called judicial finality, through guilty pleas that cannot be appealed. Others, including Mr. Austin, insist on an eventual military commissions trial. Either way, some family members have described the continuing litigation over the plea deal as agonizing.

On July 31, retired Brig. Gen. Susan K. Escallier, whom Mr. Austin had put in charge of the military commissions, approved the settlement with Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the man accused of masterminding the plot, and two men accused of conspiring with him. All three agreed to plead guilty to their specific roles in the plot in exchange for a life sentence without the possibility of appeal or release, rather than eventually face a potential death penalty trial.
Mr. Austin revoked the deal two days later. But the military judge in the case, Col. Matthew N. McCall, ruled on Nov. 6 that Mr. Austin had acted too late.

Now case prosecutors have asked a Pentagon appellate panel to stop the judge from going forward with plea proceedings early next year.

Their brief reflects Mr. Austin’s sentiment that as defense secretary, he had the authority to retroactively cancel the deals because of the significance of the case, which accuses the three men as serving as “counselors, commanders, and conspirators in the murder of 2,976 people, the injury of scores of civilians and military personnel and the destruction of private property worth tens of billions of dollars.”

Mr. Durbin said in his letter that he had followed the military commissions “closely for more than two decades.”

“In all these years,” he wrote, “the prospects of a meaningful trial and a verdict in the 9/11 case that could be upheld on appeal has only grown more elusive.”

The New York Times



Trudeau Says He Will Step Down after New Liberal Party Leader Named

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks during a news conference at Rideau Cottage in Ottawa, Canada on January 6, 2025. (AFP)
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks during a news conference at Rideau Cottage in Ottawa, Canada on January 6, 2025. (AFP)
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Trudeau Says He Will Step Down after New Liberal Party Leader Named

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks during a news conference at Rideau Cottage in Ottawa, Canada on January 6, 2025. (AFP)
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks during a news conference at Rideau Cottage in Ottawa, Canada on January 6, 2025. (AFP)

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced on Monday that he will step down as leader of the ruling Liberals after nine years in office but will stay on in his post until the party chooses a replacement.

Trudeau, under heavy pressure from Liberal legislators to quit amid polls showing the party will be crushed at the next election, said at a news conference that parliament would be suspended until March 24.

That means an election is unlikely to be held before May and Trudeau will still be prime minister when US President-elect Donald Trump - who has threatened tariffs that would cripple Canada's economy - takes office on Jan. 20.

"This country deserves a real choice in the next election, and it has become clear to me that if I'm having to fight internal battles, I cannot be the best option in that election," Trudeau said.

Trudeau, 53, took office in November 2015 and won reelection twice, becoming one of Canada's longest-serving prime ministers.

But his popularity started dipping two years ago amid public anger over high prices and a housing shortage, and his fortunes never recovered.

Polls show the Liberals will badly lose to the official opposition Conservatives in an election that must be held by late October, regardless of who the leader is.

Parliament was due to resume on Jan. 27 and opposition parties had vowed to bring down the government as soon as they could, most likely at the end of March. But if parliament does not return until March 24, the earliest they could present a non-confidence motion would be some time in May.

Trudeau said he had asked Canada's Governor General, the representative of King Charles in the country, to prorogue parliament and she had granted that request.

Trudeau had until recently been able to fend off Liberal legislators worried about the poor showing in polls and the loss of safe seats in two special elections last year.

But calls for him to step aside have soared since last month, when he tried to demote Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, one of his closest cabinet allies, after she pushed back against his proposals for more spending.

Freeland quit instead and penned a letter accusing Trudeau of "political gimmicks" rather than focusing on what was best for the country.

"Removing me from the equation as the leader who will fight the next election for the Liberal Party should also decrease the level of polarization that we're seeing right now in the House and in Canadian politics," Trudeau said.

The Conservatives are led by Pierre Poilievre, a career politician who rose to prominence in early 2022 when he supported truck drivers who took over the center of Ottawa as part of a protest against COVID-19 vaccine mandates.