#Ukraine whistleblower lawyer threatens suit against Trump over ICC sanctions

An attorney for the whistleblower who sparked President Trump’s impeachment now says he has two clients prepared to sue if the Trump administration follows through with sanctions against the International Criminal Court.

Mark Zaid told The Post he represents a pair of US law professors who intend to file a lawsuit if sanctions prohibit or criminalize their pro bono advisory work.

Trump signed an executive order this month that allows sanctions against anyone involved in an ICC investigation of Americans or US allies.

The order was issued in response to the court’s appeals chamber’s March decision that authorized an investigation of possible Afghanistan war crimes, rebuffing previous US warnings. US officials told reporters that they believe the ICC is corrupt and that Russia may be involved in pushing for the Afghanistan investigation.

“We are concerned that Russia may be manipulating the ICC by encouraging these allegations against US personnel,” a senior administration official said at the time.

The investigation of the war in Afghanistan is one of 13 currently being pursued by the Netherlands-based court. It was requested by ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda, a citizen of The Gambia.

“The ICC investigation with respect to Afghanistan is being pushed forward by an organization of dubious integrity, and may be the target of corrupt, malign influence by Russia and others,” the senior US official said.

“Further, we have reason to believe there’s corruption and misconduct at the highest levels of the ICC’s office of prosecutor, calling into question the integrity of this investigation into American personnel.”

Zaid declined to identify his clients by name. His disclosure comes, however, as 174 lawyers including professors and war crimes experts released a statement Monday pleading with Trump to change course.

“Bloody and lawless rulers can now be expected, not only to resist, but also to follow Washington’s example,” the statement says.

“The Afghanistan investigation is not a case of runaway prosecutors,” they write. “Before opening a full investigation, the prosecutors sought and received authorization to proceed from a unanimous, five-judge appeals chamber of the ICC. Their investigation also addresses alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity by Taliban forces.”

They claim the executive order also cuts against US moral authority. “To stand against atrocities, while simultaneously opposing investigations of those who allegedly commit them, strains credibility,” they wrote.

The signers work at 80 US universities and prominent signers include Zaid, three former US war crimes ambassadors, four US lawyers who participated in war crimes cases involving Africa and the former Yugoslavia and the last surviving US Nuremberg prosecutor Ben Ferencz, who is 100 years old.

The group’s statement was sent on Friday to administration officials, along with a letter signed by four of the effort’s leaders.

Zaid, a prominent national security attorney and Trump critic, acknowledged that “past administrations have not been fans of the ICC, even though we helped create it.” But, he called “disturbing” the notion that the executive order could “interfere with prosecution of alleged war criminals and could criminalize the involvement of US citizens who volunteer to help.”

The Trump administration has not yet applied sanctions against the ICC under the new executive order.

The sweeping new order allows Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to impose harsh economic penalties on ICC workers and any person or group that helps with investigations of the US or allies. It also authorizes travel restrictions.

The ICC was established by the Rome Statute of 1998, a treaty ratified by 123 countries. The US isn’t a participant, nor is Russia or China. ICC trials convicted and jailed war criminals from the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Central African Republic.

Spokespeople for the White House and State Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.