Media Invitation Announced for United States v. Khalid Shaikh Mohammad et al. Pre-Trial Hearing

In the advisory, the “U.S. Department of War” label is effectively referring to the modern U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), which owns and operates the defense.gov website where the notice is published. Historically, the Department of War was the predecessor to today’s DoD; it was abolished in 1947–49 when its functions were folded into the newly created National Military Establishment, later renamed the Department of Defense. The advisory is therefore a DoD media notice, not a separate or revived cabinet department.

According to the advisory, the pretrial hearing in United States v. Khalid Shaikh Mohammad et al. is scheduled for March 23–27, 2026. It will be held at the Expeditionary Legal Complex on Naval Station Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, with a closed‑circuit television (CCTV) feed to a media viewing site at Fort Meade, Maryland. The media travel/coverage window for going to Guantánamo Bay is March 21–28, 2026.

The five defendants – Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarek Bin ’Attash, Ali Abdul Aziz Ali (Ammar al‑Baluchi), and Mustafa Ahmed Adam al‑Hawsawi – are charged before a U.S. military commission for their alleged roles in the September 11, 2001 attacks. The charge sheet in this 9/11 case includes multiple war‑crime and terrorism offenses, notably:

• Conspiracy
• Murder in violation of the law of war (with 2,976 counts, one for each person killed on 9/11)
• Attacking civilians
• Attacking civilian objects
• Intentionally causing serious bodily injury
• Destruction of property in violation of the law of war
• Hijacking aircraft (or hazarding a vessel/aircraft)
• Terrorism

These charges are capital offenses and can carry the death penalty if the defendants are convicted.

The advisory does not open the Guantánamo Bay hearing to the general public. It specifically invites media to “cover pre-trial proceedings” and sets out credentialing and registration steps for news organizations. Observation at Fort Meade is via a “media‑designated viewing site,” again requiring prior email request and approval. In practice, attendance is limited to credentialed media (and separately arranged victim/family observers), not walk‑in public spectators.

For Guantánamo Bay (NSGB):

• Media must register online using the linked registration form in the advisory.
• On the form, they must select the “Khalid Shaikh Mohammad et al” case from the dropdown and enter the specific requested dates within the March 21–28, 2026 coverage window.
• Requests must be received by the stated deadline (noon EST, Monday, Dec. 29, per the advisory), after which the Office of Military Commissions (OMC) contacts applicants with travel and logistics details.

For the Fort Meade CCTV site:

• Media must email osd.mc-alex.OMC.mbx.omc-pa@mail.mil with a subject line matching the court case and provide name, position, news organization, and contact information.

The advisory lists OMC Public Affairs (Mr. Ron Flesvig) as the contact for further questions.

The advisory states that the Guantánamo Bay proceedings will be “transmitted to a closed‑circuit television site at Ft. Meade, Md.” for media viewing. This means there will be a live video feed to that secure site, but it is not a public broadcast or open livestream; access is restricted to approved media (and other authorized observers) at designated facilities. The advisory does not mention any public TV broadcast, open internet livestream, or automatic release of full transcripts, although daily transcripts for past sessions are typically posted later on the Office of Military Commissions website.