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Appeals Court Voids Austin’s Plea Deal in KSM Case

8/27/2026

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Summary

Schrama Sets Trial

U.S. judge Lt. Col. Michael A. Schrama set Khalid Sheikh Mohammed’s trial for 5 June 2028.
A federal appeals court voided the 2025 plea deal that Lloyd Austin signed, which would have spared the death penalty.
Co-defendants Walid bin Attash, Ali Abdul Aziz Ali and Mustafa al-Hawsawi will face a military tribunal with a service-member jury.

Summary

KSM Waterboarded

A 2014 Senate report documented that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was waterboarded 183 times.
The report also recorded similar waterboarding of co-defendants Walid bin Attash and Mustafa al-Hawsawi.
Mohammed’s defense argues the government is withholding torture details to delay his trial.
He spent months in CIA black sites before being transferred to Guantanamo in 2006.

History

Historical Context

In November 2001 President Bush ordered Guantanamo military commissions to try non-citizen terrorism suspects. After the 2006 Hamdan decision, Congress passed the Military Commissions Act (Oct 17 2006) and amended it in 2009 following Boumediene v. Bush. The June 5 2028 trial of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and co-defendants continues the United States v. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed case, one of five ongoing commissions that have yielded eight convictions.

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Schrama Sets Trial

U.S. judge Lt. Col. Michael A. Schrama set Khalid Sheikh Mohammed’s trial for 5 June 2028.
A federal appeals court voided the 2025 plea deal that Lloyd Austin signed, which would have spared the death penalty.
Co-defendants Walid bin Attash, Ali Abdul Aziz Ali and Mustafa al-Hawsawi will face a military tribunal with a service-member jury.

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