Lindsey Graham calls on ICC to reveal details of investigation into prosecutor Khan's allegations of misconduct

EXCLUSIVE: Senator Lindsey Graham is demanding answers over reports that Britain's International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor Karim Khan was accused of sexual misconduct while pursuing criminal charges against Israeli officials.

“Public reports indicate that allegations of harassment surfaced in early May, just days before Prosecutor Khan sought arrest warrants for Israel's Prime Minister and Defense Minister for alleged violations of the law during the defensive war between Israel and Hamas,” Graham wrote. in a letter obtained by Fox News Digital.

“The timing of the allegations is troubling and only compounds other legal, jurisdictional and prudential objections I have expressed regarding the prosecutor's decision to seek arrest warrants.”

On May 20, Khan requested arrest warrants for Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, as well as Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar, Ismail Haniyeh and Mohammed Deif. All three Hamas leaders were killed last year.

Khan's request was unprecedented – it was the first time the criminal court had requested the arrest of officials allied with the West.

Graham said that before Khan's arrest warrants, he worked with a group of senators to urge Khan to “adhere to the Rome Statute” and engage with Israeli officials before moving forward with their prosecution.

On May 20, Khan was scheduled to travel to Israel to meet with officials there before deciding whether to pursue the warrant requests.

But he never showed up.

He publicly announced his requests for an arrest warrant without any warning to Israelis who had planned to plead their case against them, according to Graham.

GRAHAM SAYS ISRAEL HAS A WINDOW TO 'REPLACE HAMAS FOREVER' AFTER SINWAR KILLER: 'THE DOOR IS NOW OPEN'

Senator Lindsey Graham is demanding answers over reports that ICC prosecutor Karim Khan was accused of sexual misconduct while pursuing criminal charges against Israeli officials. (Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)

Khan, pictured above in Ukraine, requested arrest warrants for Israeli officials in May.

“I have now been informed by the media that Prosecutor Khan was facing allegations of misconduct around the same time, and the resolution of this matter remains a mystery,” the senator wrote in the letter.

“The abrupt decision to cancel this visit to Israel, as well as these contemporary allegations, must be explained, and I call for full transparency on this matter to ensure that there is no conflict of interest.”

Graham said he was “shocked” to learn that Khan never showed up for his trip to Israel.

“It was a complete departure from what we had been told and we never really understood what happened – it never made sense to me.”

But last week, the Mail on Sunday reported that around the same time, a court employee informed senior staff about harassment allegations made by another employee against Khan. The woman “was so upset she was in tears.”

The Independent Monitoring Mechanism (IOM), which investigates allegations of misconduct by ICC employees, reportedly interviewed the alleged victim, but she decided not to file a formal complaint. The IOM did not launch a formal investigation and recommended measures intended to “safeguard the rights of everyone”.

“I have never understood what led to such a change in position. So my concern is: do these two events have anything to do with each other?” » asked Graham.

ENVOY BIDEN-HARRIS ACCUSED OF pressuring Israeli lawmakers to drop bill banning UN terrorism-linked agency

“We need transparency here. You know, is it a coincidence that this guy is accused of inappropriate conduct, and again, I don't know if it's legitimate or not, but a few weeks later there has a change of direction here.”

An annual report released Friday by the IOM says that on May 3, the watchdog was informed of allegations that an elected official had engaged in behavior that violated the court's rules on harassment. He confirmed that the woman “refused to make a formal complaint”. She refused to explicitly confirm or deny to the IOM the allegations reported by a third party.

The ICC prosecutor's office could not immediately be reached by Fox News Digital. Khan told the Mail on Sunday: “I can absolutely confirm that there is no truth to the suggestions of misconduct.”

ICC judges have yet to issue arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, above, and his defense minister. (OHAD ZWIGENBERG/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

The court's panel of judges has not yet issued the arrest warrants. It took them just three weeks to issue the arrest warrant for President Vladimir Putin after Khan requested it following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The United States and Israel are not parties to the Rome Statute that founded the ICC 22 years ago and do not recognize its jurisdiction. Palestine gained membership in 2015.

Since the court's creation in 2002, it has issued 55 arrest warrants in 32 cases. Twenty-one people were arrested and tried in The Hague while 26 remain at large.

Israel also faces genocide charges at the International Court of Justice in a case brought by South Africa.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Despite the ICC prosecutor's demands for an arrest warrant, Graham insisted the international law body plays an important role.

“There is a place for the ICC. I mean, like Putin has collapsed all the legal systems in Russia, he really is a despot.”

Graham added: “But making accusations against the defense minister and the prime minister of Israel in the middle of a war for the survival of the Jewish people without even speaking to them, canceling a meeting, simply does not pass the test of smell. I want to know what happened.”