{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.lgraham.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=55447971-A06B-4A8B-AB5E-A17340A25328", "In Case You Missed It: Editorial: Investigate the ICC Before It Escalates", "2024-11-04", "2024", "2024-11", "Republican", "Senate", "SC", "Lindsey Graham", "G000359", "www.lgraham.senate.gov", "graham", "https://www.lgraham.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases", "scraper", "In Case You Missed It\n\nEditorial: Investigate the ICC Before It Escalates\n\nA bipartisan group of Senators put The Hague on notice for its lawless campaign against Israel.\n\nInvestigate the ICC Before It Escalates\n\nBy The Editorial Board\n\nThe Wall Street Journal\n\nNovember 1, 2024\n\nhttps://www.wsj.com/opinion/senators-letter-international-criminal-court-karim-ahmad-khan-israel-gaza-26990e35\n\nThe International Criminal Court has been warned. In a letter on Friday, six U.S. Senators\u2014three Republicans and three Democrats\u2014implored the ICC\u2019s overseer \u201cto investigate the highly irregular and potentially illegal actions by the Prosecutor\u201d in targeting Israel\u2019s leaders.\n\nSens. Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.), Ben Cardin (D., Md.), John Thune (R., S.D.), Richard Blumenthal (D., Conn.), Joni Ernst (R., Iowa) and John Fetterman (D., Pa.) wrote to the Assembly of States Parties with \u201ctwo grave concerns.\u201d\n\nFirst, prosecutor Karim Ahmad Khan didn\u2019t comply with the law in applying for arrest warrants. The Senators relate how Mr. Khan misled them that he would \u201cmeaningfully engage with the State of Israel,\u201d as required by the court\u2019s Rome Statute, \u201cbefore any action was taken.\u201d Instead he stiffed the Israelis and announced his application for arrest warrants on CNN.\n\nSecond, \u201cthere is a cloud hanging over the Prosecutor and his office\u201d from sexual-harassment allegations, suppressed shortly before Mr. Khan requested the arrest warrants and thereafter. We\u2019ve reported on those allegations, which have since gained steam from an Associated Press investigation.\n\nMr. Khan has implied in response that this is all an Israeli conspiracy, which doesn\u2019t put to rest questions of bias. The ICC staff union doesn\u2019t trust the court\u2019s internal watchdog to investigate and has called for \u201ca prompt, independent and thorough investigation led by an external panel.\u201d\n\nThe Senators write, \u201cAny action by the Court regarding arrest warrants for Israeli officials without the benefit of a completed investigation into the serious allegations hanging over Prosecutor Khan would cast doubt on the Court\u2019s actions, and jeopardize the credibility of the ICC more broadly.\u201d That\u2019s sensible, but the ICC faces pressure from anti-Israel groups and states to tar Israel with the arrest warrants, probably soon after the U.S. election.\n\nAll of this is a danger to America. Today the court is after Israel, which doesn\u2019t belong to the ICC, for actions in Gaza, which isn\u2019t a state, in a defensive war against terrorists. Tomorrow the ICC could do the same to the U.S., another nonmember. The ICC still hasn\u2019t closed its investigation of the Afghanistan war, and Hamas isn\u2019t the only group to violate all laws of war and seek to win via international pressure.\n\nThe question is why President Biden rescinded President Trump\u2019s sanctions on the ICC in 2021, and why he and Sen. Chuck Schumer are currently blocking new, bipartisan sanctions from getting a vote on the Senate floor. Mr. Schumer, who loves telling Jewish audiences he\u2019s their shomer, or guardian, is protecting enemies who would put Israel and America in the dock.\n\nAppeared in the November 2, 2024, print edition as 'Investigate the ICC Before It Escalates'.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:02:12Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.lgraham.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=55447971-A06B-4A8B-AB5E-A17340A25328"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8533550426363945, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}