周四，在联邦法院发布了周五听证会的行政延期后，拜登政府成功阻止了哈立德·谢赫·穆罕默德的认罪协议。
作为军事检察官达成的一项协议的一部分，这位所谓的9/11策划者预计将认罪，该协议将取消他案件中的死刑可能性。
美国哥伦比亚特区联邦巡回上诉法院的命令称，“这一行政暂缓令的目的是让法院有时间接收关于履行职责申请的完整简报，快速听取口头辩论，并对申请和暂缓动议做出决定。”“行政中止不应以任何方式被解释为对该请愿或动议的是非曲直的裁决。”
该命令设定了1月22日之前提交法律文件的最后期限，这意味着该法律案件将持续到特朗普政府的第一天。
周二，拜登政府向联邦法院提出申请，寻求暂停穆罕默德和其他两名涉嫌9/11策划者的认罪协议，该协议遭到国防部长劳埃德·奥斯汀的反对。
在要求推迟听证会之前，一家军事上诉法院上周裁定，奥斯汀无权撤回军事检察官制定的认罪协议。
根据认罪协议，穆罕默德、瓦利德·穆罕默德·萨利赫·穆巴拉克·本·阿塔什和穆斯塔法·艾哈迈德·亚当·哈萨维将对他们在911袭击中的角色认罪，以换取死刑的取消。8月，奥斯汀在协议公开几天后就撤回了协议。
然而，监督此案的军事法官裁定奥斯汀没有这种权力，这一裁定上周得到了美国军事委员会审查法院的支持。
两个军事法庭都驳回了国防部的论点，即奥斯汀有权退出认罪协议，部分原因是穆罕默德和其他策划者在奥斯汀签署备忘录之前，就开始在协议中“履行承诺”，签署了他们的罪行规定。
在其提交给联邦法院的文件中，政府辩称这是对实际发生情况的错误陈述。
司法部的文件称，“协议文本清楚地表明，签署事实条款是协议形成过程的一部分，而不是履行协议签署后的承诺。”
司法部认为，推进认罪听证会“将剥夺政府和美国人民对被告的罪行和死刑可能性的公开审判”，因为政府称之为“现代历史上美国土地上最恶劣的犯罪行为”。"
政府的文件称911袭击是“令人发指的大规模谋杀行为，导致数千人死亡，震惊了全国和世界。”
《军事委员会法》规定，只有被告可以对委员会的决定向特区巡回法院提出上诉。尽管如此，拜登政府正在请求上诉法院给予特别救济——民事法官向委员会发出指令，承认奥斯汀的行为是合法的。
“协议的文本表明，签署事实条款是协议形成过程的一部分，而不是履行协议签署后的承诺，”负责国家安全的助理司法部长马修·奥尔森(Matthew Olsen)和首席副检察长布赖恩·弗莱彻(Brian Fletcher)提交的请愿书说。
Federal court stays Khalid Sheikh Mohammed's guilty plea hearing
The Biden administration succeeded in blocking a plea deal for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed on Thursday after a federal court issued an administrative stay of a hearing set for Friday.
The alleged 9/11 mastermind was expected to plead guilty as part of an agreement worked out by military prosecutors that would have removed the death penalty as a possibility in his case.
"The purpose of this administrative stay is to allow the court time to receive full briefing on the mandamus petition, to hear oral argument on an expedited basis, and to render a decision on the petition and stay motion," the order from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said. "The administrative stay should not be construed in any way as a ruling on the merits of that petition or motion."
The order set deadlines for legal documents to be filed by Jan. 22, meaning the legal case will carry into the first days of the Trump administration.
On Tuesday, the Biden administration petitioned the federal court seeking a stay of the plea agreement for Mohammed and two other alleged 9/11 plotters that has been opposed by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.
The bid to stay the hearing followed a ruling last week by a military appeals court that Austin was not authorized to withdraw the plea agreement worked out by military prosecutors.
Under the plea deal, Mohammed, Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak bin 'Attash and Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawsawi would enter guilty pleas for their role in the 9/11 attacks in return for the removal of the death penalty. In August, Austin withdrew the agreement just days after it had been made public.
However, the military judge overseeing the case ruled that Austin did not have that authority, a ruling that was upheld last week by the U.S. Court of Military Commission Review.
Both of the military courts rejected the Defense Department's argument that Austin had the right to withdraw from the plea agreement, in part because Mohammed and the other plotters began "performing promises" in the agreement by signing stipulations of their guilt prior to Austin signing his memo.
In its filings with the federal court, the administration argued that was a misstatement of what actually happened.
"The text of the agreements makes clear that signing the factual stipulations was part of the process through which the agreements were formed, not performance of a promise under the agreements once they were signed," the Justice Department's filing said.
The Justice Department argued that moving forward with the plea hearings "will deprive the government and the American people of a public trial as to the respondents' guilt and the possibility of capital punishment" for what the government called "the most egregious criminal act on American soil in modern history."
The administration's filing called the 9/11 attack "a heinous act of mass murder that caused the death of thousands of people and shocked the nation and the world."
The Military Commissions Act says that only the accused can appeal a commission's decision to the D.C. Circuit. Nevertheless, the Biden administration is asking the appeals court for extraordinary relief -- a directive from the civilian judges to the commission recognizing Austin's action as legitimate.
"The text of the agreements makes clear that signing the factual stipulations was part of the process through which the agreements were formed, not performance of a promise under the agreements once they were signed," the petition filed by Matthew Olsen, assistant attorney general for national security, and Brian Fletcher, the principal deputy solicitor general, said.
