
Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin revoked plea deals on Friday that would have spared the death penalty for the accused mastermind of the 9/11 terrorist attacks and two alleged accomplices. In a memo, Austin, 70, announced that he relieved the official responsible for signing off on the plea agreements from duty and that he assumed control of the Convening Authority for Military Commissions. “I have determined that, in light of the significance of the decision to enter into pre-trial agreements with the accused in the above-referenced case, responsibility for such...