<div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">A former solicitor general of the United States whose wife was killed on Sept. 11, 2001, said he was relieved to hear that a plea agreement had been reached in the case, and puzzled when the secretary of defense upended the deal.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Last week, a senior Pentagon official who oversees the military commissions <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/31/us/politics/sept-11-guilty-plea.html" title="">signed a plea agreement</a> with the man accused of planning the attacks and two other defendants. Then, two days later, Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/02/us/politics/911-plotters-plea-deal.html" title="">rescinded it</a>, stirring uncertainty in the case at Guantánamo Bay.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Lawyers for <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/us/guantanamo-bay-detainees.html#detainee-10024" title="">Khalid Shaikh Mohammed</a>, who is accused of orchestrating the Sept. 11 plot, accused Mr. Austin in a filing on Tuesday of unlawfully breaching the plea agreement.</p></div>

<div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">“I don’t think I can opine on whether the secretary of defense had the authority to do what he did,” <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.nytimes.com/topic/person/theodore-b-olson" title="">Theodore B. Olson</a>, the former solicitor general, said in an interview on Tuesday with The New York Times, breaking his silence on the plea deal. “But it does strike me as very unusual that someone with authority to enter into these negotiations would make a deal with these defendants and the government would turn around and renege on the deal, to abrogate the deal.”</p></div>

<div data-testid="imageblock-wrapper"><figure class="img-sz-large css-hxpw2c e1g7ppur0" aria-label="media" role="group"><div class="css-1xdhyk6 erfvjey0" data-testid="photoviewer-children-figure"><span class="css-1ly73wi e1tej78p0">Image</span><div class="css-nwd8t8" data-testid="lazy-image"></div></div><figcaption data-testid="photoviewer-children-caption" class="css-1g9ic6e ewdxa0s0"><span class="css-jevhma e13ogyst0">Barbara Olson and Theodore Olson in Washington in December 2000.</span><span class="css-1u46b97 e1z0qqy90"><span class="css-1ly73wi e1tej78p0">Credit...</span><span><span aria-hidden="false">Paul Hosefros/The New York Times</span></span></span></figcaption></figure></div>

<div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">His wife, <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/13/us/barbara-olson-45-advocate-and-conservative-commentator.html" title="">Barbara K. Olson</a>, 45, a conservative legal analyst, was a passenger on American Airlines Flight 77 and on her way to Los Angeles for a television appearance when the plane was flown into the Pentagon in the Sept. 11 attacks.</p><div class="css-1336jj"><div class="css-121kum4"><div class="css-asuuk5"><noscript><div class="css-7axq9l" data-testid="optimistic-truncator-noscript"><svg width="24" height="24" viewBox="0 0 24 24" aria-hidden="true" class="css-1b5b8u1"><path fill="currentColor" fill-rule="evenodd" d="M2.5 12a9.5 9.5 0 1 1 19 0 9.5 9.5 0 0 1-19 0Zm8.5 1.75v-7.5h2v7.5h-2Zm0 2v2h2v-2h-2Z" clip-rule="evenodd"></path></svg><div data-testid="optimistic-truncator-noscript-message" class="css-6yo1no"><p class="css-3kpklk">We are having trouble retrieving the article content.</p><p class="css-3kpklk">Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.</p></div></div></noscript><div class="css-1dv1kvn" tabindex="-1"><hr><p>Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and&nbsp;<a href="https://myaccount.nytimes.com/auth/login?response_type=cookie&amp;client_id=vi&amp;redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2024%2F08%2F06%2Fus%2Fpolitics%2Fsept-11-plea-agreement.html&amp;asset=opttrunc">log into</a>&nbsp;your Times account, or&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/subscription?campaignId=89WYR&amp;redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2024%2F08%2F06%2Fus%2Fpolitics%2Fsept-11-plea-agreement.html">subscribe</a>&nbsp;for all of The Times.</p><hr></div><div class="css-1g71tqy"><div data-testid="optimistic-truncator-message" class="css-6yo1no"><p class="css-3kpklk">Thank you for your patience while we verify access.</p><p class="css-3kpklk">Already a subscriber?&nbsp;<a data-testid="log-in-link" class="css-z5ryv4" href="https://myaccount.nytimes.com/auth/login?response_type=cookie&amp;client_id=vi&amp;redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2024%2F08%2F06%2Fus%2Fpolitics%2Fsept-11-plea-agreement.html&amp;asset=opttrunc">Log in</a>.</p><p class="css-3kpklk">Want all of The Times?&nbsp;<a data-testid="subscribe-link" class="css-z5ryv4" href="https://www.nytimes.com/subscription?campaignId=89WYR&amp;redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2024%2F08%2F06%2Fus%2Fpolitics%2Fsept-11-plea-agreement.html">Subscribe</a>.</p></div></div></div></div></div></div>

In an exclusive interview, Theodore B. Olson called the agreement that was revoked last week “the best possible outcome.”{ai:summary}<p>A former U.S. solicitor general expressed relief over a plea agreement in the 9/11 case, only to be baffled when the Defense Secretary revoked it. Khalid Shaikh Mohammed's legal team claimed this action was unlawful, highlighting the chaos surrounding Guantánamo's legal proceedings. </p><p>The shadow of 9/11 looms large, with unresolved questions hanging like smoke over an uncertain battlefield. #crime</p>