Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin withdraws plea deal for accused 9/11 terrorists

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Friday withdrew the controversial plea deal for the three men accused of planning the 9/11 attacks.

“Today, Secretary Austin signed a memo reserving for himself the specific authority to enter into pre-trial agreements with the accused in the 9/11 military commission cases,” the Defense Department said in a press release. “In addition, as the superior convening authority, the Secretary has also withdrawn from the pre-trial agreements that were signed in those cases.”

Austin announced the move in a memo addressed to Susan Escallier, the convening authority for military commissions, who had worked to negotiate the deal.

“Effective immediately, I hereby withdraw your authority in the above-referenced case to enter into a pre-trial agreement and reserve such authority to myself,” Austin said in the letter, which removes Escallier from the case.

Read more: NBC News