A group of Republican Senators have requested Attorney General Merrick Garland investigate International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor Karim Khan.
The request follows Khan’s announcement of seeking arrest warrants for Hamas and Israeli leadership for alleged war crimes.
Khan’s arrest warrants for Israeli officials were met bipartisan rejection in the US.
President Joe Biden, along with numerous Republican and Democrat legislators, criticized Khan’s move and reaffirmed support for Israel.
Indeed, efforts to counter the ICC’s anti-Israel initiatives have gained bipartisan support.
Most recently, Representative Brian Mast’s (R-FL) Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act passed in the House of Representatives with Democrat and Republican endorsements.
The bill would sanction any individual engaged in an effort by the ICC to “investigate, arrest, detain or prosecute American citizens or an official from an allied U.S. country, including Israel.”
The request for Attorney General Garland to investigate Khan is American lawmakers’ latest attempt to undermine the ICC’s prosecution of Israeli officials.
US Senators Rick Scott (R-FL), Tom Cotton (R-AR), Mike Braun (R-IN), and J.D. Vance (R-OH) penned a letter requesting Garland investigate Khan for his potential cooperation with Hamas.
According to the senators, “express statements by Mr. Khan and others associated with the prosecution suggest that the (ICC-Hamas) coordination may have been extensive.”
The senators claim Khan’s prosecution “manifestly provides ‘material support’ to Hamas by attempting to isolate Israel politically and diplomatically through legal advocacy for Hamas.”
US law prohibits anyone from providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization such as Hamas.
Consequently, the senators are asking Garland to investigate if and how Khan has been collaborating with Hamas in order to gain evidence for his prosecution.
Garland nor the US Department of Justice have yet to respond to the senators’ requests.
