What came after
What the CIA did to the accused plotters, and why there is still no verdict
RECORD / AT A GLANCE
Documented
Documented. The Senate found the CIA held at least 119 detainees, waterboarded KSM at least 183 times, and got fabricated information. Plea deals that would have ended the case were withdrawn in 2024. The Supreme Court declined to restore them in October 2026. A trial is set for June 2028.
THE EVENTS / THE INVESTIGATION / THE STORY
17 Sep 2001
A presidential memorandum authorizes the CIA to capture and detain.
10 Mar 2003
KSM is waterboarded for the first of 15 sessions.
2008
KSM and co-defendants are arraigned at Guantánamo.
Dec 2014
The torture report’s executive summary is released.
2 Aug 2024
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin withdraws from the plea agreements.
11 Jul 2025
The appeals court upholds the withdrawal.
19 Oct 2026
The Court denies review; trial set for 5 June 2028.
READ THE FILE
At least 119 detainees.
Torture made the case harder to try.
Open an article for its evidence, labeled AI assessment and numbered sources. Read the complete static edition ↗
WHAT PEOPLE SAY ABOUT THIS FILE
3 claims people make about this file, each rated documented, partly true, disputed, unproven or false. Think a rating is wrong? Use Dispute or Support, or join the Discussion.
The Senate found at least 119 detainees and 183 waterboardings of KSM, and that the techniques were not effective.
Who says it: Senate Intelligence Committee.
The plea deals were withdrawn, the Supreme Court declined to restore them, and a trial is set for June 2028.
Who says it: News reports.
Defense Secretary Austin withdrew from them in August 2024, and the D.C. Circuit upheld his power to do so.
Who says it: Court records.
OPEN THE RECORD
Numbered citations in each article identify the relevant sources. These records have different purposes and evidentiary weight.
Found the CIA’s enhanced interrogation was not an effective means of getting intelligence and that the CIA’s justification rested on inaccurate claims of its effectiveness.
The 20 findings, starting with “not an effective means of acquiring intelligence.”
Upholds the defense secretary’s withdrawal from the plea deals.
Kavanaugh recused; trial set for June 2028. Confirmed by reader fetch.
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At least 119 detainees.
The Senate Intelligence Committee’s study covered 119 CIA detainees from the program’s authorization on 17 September 2001 to its end in January 2009, more than the “fewer than one hundred” the CIA had claimed. It found the CIA waterboarded KSM at least 183 times and that his reporting included significant fabricated information. [1]
Its first finding: the techniques were “not an effective means of acquiring intelligence or gaining cooperation from detainees.” [2]
What we can’t tell you. The CIA refused to compel its officers to be interviewed; the committee relied on records. The report was approved 9-6.
Found the CIA’s enhanced interrogation was not an effective means of getting intelligence and that the CIA’s justification rested on inaccurate claims of its effectiveness.
The 20 findings, starting with “not an effective means of acquiring intelligence.”
Torture made the case harder to try.
In 2024 the military commission’s convening authority agreed plea deals that would have taken the death penalty off the table. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin withdrew from them on 2 August 2024, and the D.C. Circuit upheld his power to do so in July 2025. [1]
On 19 October 2026 the Supreme Court declined to hear the defendants’ appeal; Justice Kavanaugh recused himself. A tentative trial date is set for 5 June 2028. [2]
What we can’t tell you. Much of the pretrial fight is over whether statements were tainted by torture, which is litigated largely in secret.
Upholds the defense secretary’s withdrawal from the plea deals.
Kavanaugh recused; trial set for June 2028. Confirmed by reader fetch.
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