US sanctions international criminal court president and prosecutor 18AUG26

 

THE reason this American administration is sanctioning the ICC is because not only is the drumpf/trump-vance administration, their entire cabinet and their billionaire and mega millionaire associates are guilty of genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, funding international terrorism, sheltering persons indicted for war crimes and crimes against humanity and they are all guilty of fostering corruption, environmental degradation, bribery, slavery and human trafficking in most of the countries they are doing business in. These people have money but their actions show they are no class trash. This from The Guardian.....

US sanctions international criminal court president and prosecutor

Marco Rubio targets ICC’s Tomoko Akane and Abdoulaye Seye, who was investigating Israeli war crimes in Gaza

Andrew Roth in Washington

Tue 18 Aug 2026  1437 EDT

The US has sanctioned the president of the international criminal court (ICC) and a prosecutor tasked with investigating crimes committed by Israel during its war on Gaza.

The new sanctions designations were unveiled by Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, who called the Hague-based ICC a “corrupt and fatally politicized supranational court that has maliciously abused its authority and exceeded its mandate”, in a statement.

Rubio announced that the US would sanction Tomoko Akane of Japan, the ICC president, and Abdoulaye Seye of Senegal, an ICC senior trial lawyer, because they had “directly engaged in efforts by the ICC to investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute officials whose government has not consented to ICC jurisdiction”.

The state department last month unveiled an effort to “dismantle the threat” posed by the ICC to US sovereignty.

The ultimate goal was to “disable the ICC’s ability to operate, target American servicemen or officials, or otherwise threaten American sovereignty”, the department said in a statement.

Rubio has called on the 125 member countries of the ICC to withdraw from the body. Donald Trump has said that he is targeting the ICC because of the threat it poses to Israel.

The US had previously sanctioned Karim Khan, an ICC prosecutor, who had successfully sought arrest warrants for the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and for former defense minister Yoav Gallant, over war crimes during the Gaza war. Trump in 2025 sanctioned the court, stating in an executive order that it had “engaged in illegitimate and baseless actions targeting America and our close ally Israel”.

Rubio did not say specifically which efforts the two ICC officials had engaged in, but Israeli media have reported that Seye is also overseeing the investigation into Israeli funding for illegal settlements and the distribution of weapons to settlers in the West Bank.

Israeli officials warned local media in May that the ICC may seek five more arrest warrants for ministers and senior military officials involved in violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.

The US has already designated at least 11 ICC officials for sanctions, stemming from cases that also include investigations into the actions of US soldiers in Afghanistan.

Neither the US nor Israel are member states of the ICC or recognise its jurisdiction.

Four human rights groups sued Trump last week for targeting the ICC. In the lawsuit, they said that the sanctions prevent victims of war crimes from seeking justice.

Why does the US want to ‘dismantle’ the international criminal court?

This article is more than 1 month old

Kenneth Roth

Marco Rubio launches campaign to dismantle international criminal court

MOTHER JONES DAILY: A scandal-plagued GOP member may lose his primary-One of Congress’ Most Scandal-Plagued Republicans May Be About to Lose His Primary, The international underwear model who stormed the Capitol is now running for Congress, Could the GOP lose Florida over data centers?, Tony Blair’s son is launching yet another military tech company, Trump burns allies over Iran. South Korea and Oman are next., 40 Acres and a Lie Part 2 17AUG26

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August 17, 2026 On Friday, Florida Rep. Cory Mills and I started texting. My initial question for Mills, a scandal-plagued lawmaker who goes before Republican primary voters in the state tomorrow, was straightforward: Did he date a 19-year-old woman in 2023 while he was a member of Congress in his 40s?  His response was not a denial. “Whether in office or as a private citizen, adults are entitled to date in their attempt to find their person,” Mills wrote in part. “Sometimes you get lucky and find that immediately, but many are not so blessed. Feel free to run your new and slanderous hit piece.” Since entering Congress in 2023, Mills has had three relationships with young women who have worked in Republican politics. One of those women accused Mills, now 46, of assault in 2025 before retracting the allegation. Another secured a restraining order against Mills after accusing him of threatening to share explicit videos recorded during their relationship. Mills’ controversies are not limited to his dating life. Two Army veterans have accused Mills of obtaining a Bronze Star through false claims that he saved their lives.  Read about all that and much more in my most recent article on Mills, whom I profiled in February after speaking with 18 people who have known him. And keep an eye out for Tuesday’s primary results to see whether Mills—who received a “Complete and Total Endorsement” from President Donald Trump in February—hangs on to his seat. —Noah Lanard

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One of Congress’ Most Scandal-Plagued Republicans May Be About to Lose His Primary Florida Rep. Cory Mills has been accused of stolen valor, was subject to a restraining order, and is reportedly under investigation by the Justice Department. He also has Trump’s “Complete and Total Endorsement.” BY NOAH LANARD

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The international underwear model who stormed the Capitol is now running for Congress BY STEPHANIE MENCIMER Could the GOP lose Florida over data centers? BY LAURA C. MOREL Tony Blair’s son is launching yet another military tech company BY SOPHIE HURWITZ Trump burns allies over Iran. South Korea and Oman are next. BY ALEX NGUYEN

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Understanding the significance of Juneteenth 19JUN26

MORE on the history and significance of Juneteenth. It is a sad statement on our country that so many actually oppose celebrating the emancipation of our fellow Americans, no doubt these are the same voluntarily ignorant who brought us the present administration and promote their hate, racism, prejudice, bigotry. How very sad for them and our nation. Just hold on to the fact that change is a'commin.....  WHO IS OPAL LEE? THE STORY BEHIND THE GRANDMOTHER OF JUNETEENTH

It’s Juneteenth, which is the official federal holiday commemorating the final enforcement of the Emancipation Proclamation on June 19, 1865 in Galveston, Texas at the end of the Civil War. This is the fifth year the United States has recognized it as a federal holiday, and seeing how racial justice and economic justice are deeply intertwined, we felt it was important to give this day the proper attention it deserves. Not sure where to start? We’ve got you covered. Black Americans still face systemic discrimination in just about every facet of their lives—from the healthcare system, law enforcement, the courts, the education system, and more. There are a number of reasons why America’s “racial wealth gap” is so massive. Redlining, blockbusting, excluding Black veterans from the post-WWII GI Bill, and Black people being swindled into predatory subprime mortgages that ultimately created the 2008 financial crisis are all frequently cited as major contributors. This is what we mean when we say white supremacy and the lasting impacts of slavery still harm our society, economy, and democracy today. If you’re looking for resources to better understand how this is the case, here’s what we’d recommend reading: Our Closer Look from June 2025 about how the sub-minimum wage (also known as the tipped minimum wage) is a vestige from slavery. After the Civil War, business owners who still wanted to exploit formerly enslaved Black people brought the idea of tipping over from Europe to America, but with a financial twist to it: they decided that tips would replace wages entirely for Black workers. Our Closer Look from February 2026 about how early labor laws excluded Black Americans. The targeted exclusion of occupations that mainly employed Black people from minimum wage and Social Security provisions during the New Deal means that not only do Black families still hold less generational wealth, but there remains to this day a wage gap based on race, to say nothing of the wage gap when considering both race and gender. Our pals at ITEP wrote this insightful piece about how one of the most powerful drivers of that inequity is our tax system. As they eloquently put it: “Juneteenth is often described as a celebration of delayed justice. But it should also be a reminder that justice delayed is justice denied. The inequities embedded in our tax system will not correct themselves. They require intentional action, guided by a clear understanding of who benefits and who bears the cost. If we are serious about honoring the legacy of Juneteenth, we must move beyond commemoration to transformation. That means building a tax system and an economy that works for everyone, not just the privileged few.” “Spread the power” is our core third principle here at Patriotic Millionaires. That means understanding how orchestrated attacks on voting rights are becoming commonplace across the country. In the past two decades, we’ve witnessed the Supreme Court of the United States wipe out a generation of work by civil rights activists. See this from the Brennan Center: The Supreme Court’s Failure to Protect Voting Rights. There is a tie between attacks on voting rights and it disproportionately harming Black Americans and other racial minorities, as well as young and elderly voters, people with lower incomes, and people with disabilities. Consider this: for most of our country’s history, “the right to vote was almost entirely restricted to white property-owning men. This version of an American democracy based on racial, gender, and economic privilege coexisted with and was reinforced by the institution of race-based chattel slavery.” When we eliminate barriers to financial and political freedom, we take a step forward in the fights for both economic justice and racial justice. The same can be said for just about every aspect of the economy, from the tax code to labor laws to antitrust laws and more. We hope you use this federal holiday as an opportunity to better understand how our movement toward a stronger economy and country is intrinsically connected with advancing racial justice. Thank you for all you do, The Patriotic Millionaires

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