Khalid Sheikh Mohammed admitted he planned 9/11 and bragged about it for years.
A military judge just threw out that very confession last month.
Now the trial the world waited 25 years for won't happen until 2028 at the earliest.
Biden Handed KSM a Get-Out-of-Jail Card Nobody Noticed
Mohammed told FBI agents in 2007 that he orchestrated the September 11 attacks "from A to Z."
The FBI agents who interrogated him say he was proud of what he did.
But military judge Col. Michael Schrama just ruled those 2007 statements are off-limits at trial.
The reason: "severe coercion" tied to Mohammed's earlier treatment in CIA custody, where he was subjected to the agency's harshest interrogation methods, including waterboarding.
Prosecutors won't even appeal the ruling.
They're afraid an appeal could blow past the 2028 trial date entirely.
Sit with that for a second.
The man who murdered 3,000 Americans has federal prosecutors playing defense on his behalf.
Five Judges, Four Presidents, and Zero Verdicts
This case has burned through five military judges since Mohammed's 2012 arraignment.
Barack Obama tried to move the trial to a Manhattan federal courtroom back in 2009.
New York officials and members of his own party revolted.
Obama quietly shipped the case back to Guantanamo, where it has rotted ever since.
Then came Biden.
In July 2024, Biden's Pentagon negotiated a plea deal letting Mohammed plead guilty in exchange for life in prison.
No death penalty for 3,000 murders.
Then-Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin killed the deal after it leaked and families erupted.
That triggered another year of appeals, another judge rotation, and the "tentative" trial date now sitting on the calendar for 2028.
John Ryan spent nine months working the recovery operation at Ground Zero.
He later ran counterterrorism work for the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force.
"Our justice system isn't designed to work that late," Ryan said.
The Families Are Running Out of Time to See Justice
Sean Passananti's father died on the 100th floor of the North Tower.
He has attended the Ground Zero memorial every year but one since 2001.
"It feels really like a twilight zone," Passananti said on the 25th anniversary.
"And unbelievable that we have to fight for justice for the worst terrorist attack that ever happened on our soil."
Dennis McGinley's brother Danny worked on the 89th floor of the South Tower.
Danny didn't make it out either.
"It is like the wound never healed," McGinley said.
"And every year we get salt poured back into that wound."
These are not politicians.
These are American families told to wait until 2028 for a trial both sides privately doubt will ever happen.
Terry Strada is the national chair of 9/11 Families United and lost her husband Tom in the World Trade Center.
She said she would rather see Mohammed rot at Guantanamo forever than accept any deal that spares his life.
"The death penalty fits the crime and it would prevent that from ever happening," Strada said.
"And that's important to me."
She's right.
Trump should make sure she gets it.
The Bush Administration Got It Right. Democrats Have Spent Two Decades Undoing It.
The Bush administration authorized brutal interrogation to break Mohammed and get answers.
It worked.
He confessed to planning 28 separate attacks, including 9/11 itself.
Ever since, liberal lawyers and Democrat officials have worked overtime to hand him back his freedom on a technicality.
Obama tried to move his trial to a civilian courtroom blocks from Ground Zero.
Biden tried to let him skip the death penalty entirely.
Now a judge has stripped his own confession from the case, and prosecutors are too scared of more delay to fight it.
Sens. Tom Cotton and Mitch McConnell introduced the Justice for 9/11 Act to ban future plea deals and keep execution on the table.
Trump should throw the full weight of his administration behind it.
Mohammed is 61 years old.
The 9/11 families are aging right along with him.
Ryan said the emphasis needs to be on the victims, not on the five men still sitting in Guantanamo.
Twenty-seven years.
Five judges.
Four presidents.
Zero verdicts.
If America can't execute the man who proudly planned the murder of 3,000 of its own citizens, "Never Forget" is just a bumper sticker.
Sources:
- Morgan Phillips, "Open Sore: Families Face Agonizing Wait as 9/11 Mastermind's Trial Pushed Nearly 27 Years After Attacks," Fox News, September 11, 2026.
- "Prosecutors Drop Khalid Sheikh Mohammed Confession Appeal to Protect 2028 Trial," Fox News, September 7, 2026.
- "Judge Throws Out 9/11 Attack Mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed's FBI Confession Over Torture Concerns," WION News, August 29, 2026.
- "9/11 Bill: McConnell, Cotton Introduce Justice for 9/11 Act to Block Plea Deals," Fox News, 2024.
- "25 Years After 9/11, Victims' Families Still Waiting for Trials," U.S. News & World Report, September 10, 2026.
- "Trial Remains Elusive for Purported Mastermind Accused of Plotting 9/11 Attacks," PBS NewsHour, September 11, 2026.
