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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsNYT: Merrick Garland news flash!!
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/21/world/europe/merrick-garland-ukraine-war-crimes.htmlWASHINGTON The United States attorney general, Merrick Garland, is making an unannounced trip to Ukraine on Tuesday to discuss the prosecution of Russians for war crimes, according to his spokesman.
Mr. Garland plans to meet with Ukraines prosecutor general, Iryna Venediktova, to discuss U.S. and international efforts to help Ukraine identify, apprehend and prosecute those individuals involved in war crimes and other atrocities in Ukraine, the spokesman, Anthony D. Coley, said in an email.
The meeting is expected to last about an hour, and the two are expected to discuss technical, forensic and legal support that Mr. Garlands department might be able to provide prosecutors in Ukraine, department officials said.
snip
Well, I'm glad he has so much free time on his hands.
Lovie777
(12,330 posts)I think Garland can walk and chew gum at the same time.
gab13by13
(21,408 posts)I hope someone tapes it for him.
agingdem
(7,860 posts)here's the thing..the J6 committee's sole purpose is to tell the story of January 6..Merrick Garland is tasked with terrorism (both foreign and domestic,) civil rights, tax laws, illegal drugs, gun and explosives violations (ATF), organized and violent crime, immigration, overseeing the FBI, Federal Bureau of Prisons, the US Marshall Service...and sedition and insurrection...
Garland is doing just fine..
MarineCombatEngineer
(12,449 posts)You think he doesn't have access to the internet in Ukraine?
Funtatlaguy
(10,887 posts)brooklynite
(94,745 posts)SoonerPride
(12,286 posts)70sEraVet
(3,516 posts)SoonerPride
(12,286 posts)Just a suggestion.
70sEraVet
(3,516 posts)SoonerPride
(12,286 posts)I guess Garland ain't that committed to prosecuting the people responsible for J6 or he would be there in person.
You said it, not me.
emulatorloo
(44,187 posts)SoonerPride
(12,286 posts)Seems like I quoted him verbatim.
Garland should personally visit the J6 hearings instead of watching them on TV.
That would show proof of commitment.
emulatorloo
(44,187 posts)points. People here should argue in good faith.
FoxNewsSucks
(10,435 posts)Cha
(297,722 posts)in Person!
I bet it means a lot to Ukraine & Zelensky.
💙💛
GoCubsGo
(32,095 posts)for trying to extort Mr. Zelynskyy. I'm betting there's some dot-connecting going on here.
Cha
(297,722 posts)Bucky
(54,072 posts)Thank you
I understand when people don't read past the headline. But it still surprises me when they're people who can't think beyond the headline
Response to SoonerPride (Original post)
Chin music This message was self-deleted by its author.
jalan48
(13,888 posts)kentuck
(111,110 posts)....like RICO?
GoCubsGo
(32,095 posts)And, now his country is being invaded by they guy who gives Trump his marching orders. I have no doubt it's all connected.
gldstwmn
(4,575 posts)Just A Box Of Rain
(5,104 posts)The OP's comments are tone-deaf.
SoonerPride
(12,286 posts)I appreciate being insulted on DU.
Just A Box Of Rain
(5,104 posts)Response to Just A Box Of Rain (Reply #12)
Chin music This message was self-deleted by its author.
Just A Box Of Rain
(5,104 posts)Response to Just A Box Of Rain (Reply #18)
Chin music This message was self-deleted by its author.
Raven
(13,900 posts)staff that can carry on while he's away. I'm pretty sure he has the technology to watch the J6 Committee hearings. I am very glad he's paying personal attention to the horrible Russian atrocities in Ukraine.
LastLiberal in PalmSprings
(12,595 posts)Aren't these kind of trips kept quiet until after they have occurred to keep the individual safe?
bigtree
(86,005 posts)Garland oversees prosecutors and investigators.
He doesn't actually prosecute the cases or personally investigate them.
But sure, let's run him down for doing one of his myriad jobs at the Justice Dept.
I absolutely hate these dirt dumb takes on the DOJ. This one is nothing but a weak attempt at disinformation, positing that Garland is taking time away from the Capitol invasion investigation. Really just a load of nonsense.
SoonerPride
(12,286 posts)Interesting.
Speaking of disinformation.
bigtree
(86,005 posts)...this time with a strawman question.
"U.S. officials have previously said that the federal government will assist Ukraine's efforts to identify and prosecute war crimes that have taken place in the country since Russia invaded the region in late February."
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/attorney-general-merrick-garland-makes-surprise-trip-ukraine-rcna34506
War Crimes and Accountability in Ukraine - United States Department of State
FPC Briefing
Beth Van Schaack, Ambassador-at-Large for Global Criminal Justice
Office of Global Criminal Justice
Wednesday, June 15, 2022
The United States has been very active in supporting a whole range of efforts towards accountability for these abuses. In addition to our multifaceted work on security assistance, on sanctions, on humanitarian assistance, et cetera, we are working with civil society actors and others to document abuses for future accountability purposes. We are supporting the Office of the Prosecutor General in her efforts to prepare war crimes files and cases, and some of those have been proceeding now in Ukrainian courts. We have also stood up a Conflict Observatory, which will be scouring open-source information, including satellite feeds and social media feeds, in order to bring together and then analyze data coming out of Ukraine and using some of the tools that are within the unique capacity of the United States to be able to collect and analyze.
My particular office is working closely with the Office of the Prosecutor General. We had a project in place prior to the February 24th invasion in which we were surging some experts who are veterans of the worlds international war crimes tribunals to the Office of the Prosecutor General in Kyiv to assist her, providing strategic guidance and operational support in pursuing war crimes cases. The office is very experienced she had already launched a number of cases arising out of the Donbas and Crimea but since the relaunch of the invasion on February 24th, the entire country of Ukraine has become an enormous crime base. And so the work ahead of her is extremely daunting. We have now pivoted and are starting to scale that work in order to make sure that she has the resources and expertise that she needs in order to bring these cases.
We are also launching through implementing partners from the civil society sector what are called Mobile Justice Teams. These individuals will be multidisciplinary again, veterans of the war crimes tribunals, experienced investigators and prosecutors, who will be working with regional prosecutors around the country as they bring cases within their particular spheres of operations. There will also be Mobile Justice Teams that will be thematic in terms of focusing on the use of starvation as a weapon of war, sexual violence against women of and women and girls, attacks on cultural property. These are not crimes that ordinary prosecutors are used to doing in their daily lives, and so the hope is that having this expertise on the ground, in the field, will be helpful to enable these cases to move forward.
The United States is also supporting a range of multinational efforts to advance accountability. This includes cases that are being considered by the International Criminal Court. The new prosecutor, Karim Khan, has recently opened an investigation. I understand hes in Ukraine right now working with local officials there to coordinate their efforts around prosecutions. Were also supporting the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which has recently relaunched the Moscow Mechanism, which will take a second look at abuses committed since the last mechanism was deployed. There is a human rights monitoring mission that has been sent out by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva. Ive just come from Europe, where I was had meetings in Brussels, The Hague, Geneva, et cetera, to try and help coordinate some of these efforts. And theres a whole range of civil society actors that are actively engaged in documenting these abuses from a trauma-informed perspective.
https://www.state.gov/briefings-foreign-press-centers/war-crimes-and-accountability-in-ukraine
sheshe2
(83,928 posts)Voltaire2
(13,194 posts)bigtree
(86,005 posts)...they're not one-dimensional, not all roads of justice and accountability lead to the ICC as the op suggests.
___In a meeting with Ukrainian Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova, Attorney General Merrick B. Garland commended the efforts of the Ukrainian people to defend democracy and uphold the rule of law, and announced additional U.S. actions to help Ukraine identify, apprehend, and prosecute those individuals involved in war crimes and other atrocities in Ukraine.
The United States stands in solidarity with the people of Ukraine in the face of Russias continued aggression and assault on Ukraines sovereignty and territorial integrity, said Attorney General Garland. America and the world has seen the many horrific images and read the heart-wrenching accounts of brutality and death that have resulted from Russias unjust invasion of Ukraine.
Specifically, Attorney General Garland announced the launch of a War Crimes Accountability Team to centralize and strengthen the Justice Departments ongoing work to hold accountable those who have committed war crimes and other atrocities in Ukraine. This initiative will bring together the Departments leading experts in investigations involving human rights abuses and war crimes and other atrocities; and provide wide-ranging technical assistance, including operational assistance and advice regarding criminal prosecutions, evidence collection, forensics, and relevant legal analysis. The team will also play an integral role in the Departments ongoing investigation of potential war crimes over which the U.S. possesses jurisdiction, such as the killing and wounding of U.S. journalists covering the unprovoked Russian aggression in Ukraine.
There is no hiding place for war criminals. The U.S. Justice Department will pursue every avenue of accountability for those who commit war crimes and other atrocities in Ukraine, said Attorney General Garland. Working alongside our domestic and international partners, the Justice Department will be relentless in our efforts to hold accountable every person complicit in the commission of war crimes, torture, and other grave violations during the unprovoked conflict in Ukraine.
To lead this effort, the Attorney General has tapped Eli Rosenbaum to serve as Counselor for War Crimes Accountability. Rosenbaum is a 36-year veteran of the Justice Department who previously served as Director of the Office of Special Investigations (OSI), which was primarily responsible for identifying, denaturalizing, and deporting Nazi war criminals. In his role as Counselor for War Crimes Accountability, Rosenbaum will coordinate efforts across the Justice Department and the federal government to hold accountable those responsible for war crimes and other atrocities in Ukraine. Rosenbaum will be joined in his work by other prosecutors from the Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section (HRSP), including Acting Section Chief Hope Olds and prosecutors Christian Levesque, Christina Giffin, and Courtney Urschel.
In addition, the Justice Department will provide additional personnel to expand its work with Ukraine and other partners to counter Russian illicit finance and sanctions evasion. Among other things, the Department will provide Ukraine an expert Justice Department prosecutor to advise on fighting kleptocracy, corruption, and money laundering. In addition, it plans to deploy two expert attorneys from the Office of International Affairs (OIA) one to a U.S. Embassy in Europe, and another to a U.S. Embassy in the Middle East in support of the Departments KleptoCapture Task Force. These senior attorneys will work closely with their counterparts in EU member states and Middle Eastern countries to facilitate mutual legal assistance and extraditions relating to Russian illicit finance and sanctions evasion, including with respect to designated Russian oligarchs who have supported the Russian regime and its efforts to undermine Ukrainian sovereignty.
Attorney General Garland announced the KleptoCapture Task Force in March to further leverage the Departments tools and authorities against efforts to evade or undermine the economic actions taken by the U.S. Government in response to Russian military aggression. Since then, the task force has facilitated the seizure of superyachts of two sanctioned individuals with close ties to the Russian regime; dismantled Russian criminal networks; and enforced sanctions violations, among other actions.
https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/attorney-general-merrick-b-garland-visits-ukraine-reaffirms-us-commitment-help-identify
https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/fact-sheet-administration-legislative-proposals-support-kleptocracy-asset-recovery
OnDoutside
(19,974 posts)Johnson did it to deflect attention away from his latest scandal....
yaesu
(8,020 posts)making this important trip.
Just A Box Of Rain
(5,104 posts)Having our AG go to Ukraine as a way to stand against widespread Russian war crimes is vital.
Cracklin Charlie
(12,904 posts)I am starting to think Ukraine has been a big, but maybe silent (stealthy) ally in our war against transnational crime. Maybe they have important information to share with the Attorney General?
Lots going on today.
UTUSN
(70,744 posts)Drumpf's dealings. Then the thought crossed: BURISMA?!
Then getting what the reason-for-the-visit was said to be, yes noble reason but also deepening Russian motivation for ultimate escalations.
*** But the OP said it for me, he apprarently doesn't feel stretched thin.
MineralMan
(146,333 posts)But, why not take every opportunity to snark at him? Might as well, I suppose.
LetMyPeopleVote
(145,619 posts)Cha
(297,722 posts)Joinfortmill
(14,467 posts)KS Toronado
(17,344 posts)Works for me !
MarineCombatEngineer
(12,449 posts)Traildogbob
(8,826 posts)She will be thorough and he can do both effectively. Bigger things to bitch about.
housecat
(3,121 posts)armchair pundits for everything. It might be more constructive for liberals and DU'ers to at least give them the benefit of the doubt until we have the facts. Wingnuts can knock themselves out complaining to each other, because they don't believe in facts anyway.
SoonerPride
(12,286 posts)The clock is ticking.
He does not have unlimited time.
FrankBooth
(1,607 posts)The one-trick pony crew here for to show off their daily jump through the flaming hoop. Boring.
SoonerPride
(12,286 posts)I mean it is an option.
FrankBooth
(1,607 posts)I'm also free to comment on that poor pony having to jump through that hoop again.
Kingofalldems
(38,487 posts)Pretty sickening.
SoonerPride
(12,286 posts)Torchlight
(3,361 posts)After Russia eventually loses the conflict, a series of historic, trans-national trials will probably be held for the remnants of Moscow's government (at least those who remain alive through Putin's current distemper).
citizen blues
(570 posts)Garland's cleaned up and is still cleaning up the DOJ. He's hired over 100 additional prosecutors including the nation's top RICO prosecutors. He's already subpoenaed the J6 committee for everything they have and will have. He's letting them go first, so the information is public instead of sealed by a Grand Jury proceeding.
Now, he's establishing a working relationship and partnership with Ukraine to hold the Russians accountable in that country and in the international courts, just like he's been working to hold them and their paid assets accountable here in the U.S.
Sure sounds like the man's doing his job! And a helluva fine job at that!
Look, Merrick Garland is meticulous and always holds his cards close to his chest. While Trump's still trying to figure out why there are red and black squares on a checker board, Garland is busy playing 3D chess.
This trip to Ukraine is another indication that the dam's about to break.
Response to citizen blues (Reply #49)
Post removed
BlackSkimmer
(51,308 posts)Not quite sure what to think about this.
gldstwmn
(4,575 posts)Hortensis
(58,785 posts)in being right.
Recent Garland threads reminded me of that little satellite forum circling DU where some of DU's cultist HillHaters fled after we supposedly "stole" the 2016 primary from them. So I dropped by to see what they were saying about the hearings. Depressing and worse even than I imagined.
Crickets.
The remnants still there have become so emotionally invested in Democratic failure that I have to assume the striking silence means the hearings are painful. Of course, though they did help elect tRump, some voting directly for him, others refusing to vote against, Democratic failure has always been their ideological lodestar.
Heavy attention to Ukraine and foreign policy instead (all negative, of course, since the Biden admin is for). Do they feel vindicated when they hear about another city smashed to rubble? Happy-thinking about 2024 when the tRumpists will vindicate them "again" by smashing Democrats?
I doubt it. Their determined doomerism has never taken them to a happy place.
Bucky
(54,072 posts)Why aren't they out fighting a fire RIGHT FUCKING NOW?!¡!!11!!!!1!