Prosecutors Drop 2007 Mohammed Confession Appeal to Preserve June 2028 9/11 Trial
Updated
Updated · Fox News · Sep 7
Prosecutors Drop 2007 Mohammed Confession Appeal to Preserve June 2028 9/11 Trial
3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Sep 7
Summary
Military prosecutors will forgo using Khalid Sheikh Mohammed’s 2007 FBI statements after deciding not to appeal a judge’s suppression ruling, aiming to keep the June 5, 2028 trial on track.
Lt. Col. Michael Schrama excluded the confession after finding it was tainted by severe coercion and obtained without giving Mohammed a chance to consult a lawyer.
Prosecutors told victims’ families an appeal could take years and jeopardize the long-delayed case against Mohammed and co-defendants Walid bin Attash, Mustafa al-Hawsawi and Ammar al-Baluchi.
The move comes a week before the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, which killed nearly 3,000 people, after a 2024 plea deal that would have spared some defendants the death penalty collapsed in further litigation.
Will abandoning a suppressed confession finally allow the decades-delayed 9/11 trial to begin in 2028?
How will prosecutors secure a conviction for the 9/11 mastermind without their strongest piece of evidence?
What hidden financial records can replace a coerced confession in the most complex military trial in history?
9/11 at 25: Why the U.S. Still Can’t Try Khalid Sheikh Mohammed—Torture, Suppressed Confessions, and the Endless Guantánamo Gridlock
Overview
After years of legal battles, the 9/11 prosecution reached a turning point in September 2026 when military prosecutors dropped their appeal to use Khalid Sheikh Mohammed’s 2007 confession. This confession had been suppressed by a judge who found it was tainted by years of CIA torture and coercion. With the confession excluded, the government must now rely on weaker evidence to prove Mohammed’s role. Earlier, attempts at plea deals to avoid the death penalty collapsed after political backlash and intervention by the Defense Secretary. As a result, the case remains stuck in pretrial limbo, with no convictions nearly 23 years after the attacks.