Fidell on Plea-Gate

https://www.justsecurity.org/98438/guantanamo-plea-deals-austin-escallier/

"Pretrial agreements are contracts—one set of promises exchanged for another. They became binding when they were approved by General Escallier. The Manual for Military Commissions permits the convening authority to withdraw at any time before the accused begins performance, but Secretary Austin could only do so if he was properly exercising the functions of the convening authority. He wasn’t because his withdrawal of power from General Escallier was defective. Specifically, under his memorandum, she remained the convening authority not only for other military commission cases, but even for these three cases. In these three, she can no longer enter into pretrial agreements. But nothing in the Military Commissions Act or implementing regulations permitted him to withdraw part of her power over particular cases, while leaving her the dregs, such as the resolution of routine administrative matters. Nor does the law permit him to withdraw only the power to enter plea agreements –perhaps the most important power the convening authority possesses–but retain other powers to dispose of the charges. Severing the pretrial agreement power from the rest was beyond his authority."