John Bolton's speech comes as the Trump administration is shuttering the Palestine Liberation Organization office in Washington

White House National Security Advisor John Bolton branded the International Criminal Court dangerous and unaccountable Monday, saying it constitutes an assault on US sovereignty.

"In theory, the ICC holds perpetrators of the most egregious atrocities accountable for their crimes, provides justice to the victims, and deters future abuses," Bolton said. "In practice, however, the court has been ineffective, unaccountable, and indeed, outright dangerous," he said. Bolton said the United States rejects any move by the court to prosecute American servicemembers and intelligence officials over alleged detainee abuse in Afghanistan - allegations the court is currently reviewing.

He called it "an utterly unfounded, unjustifiable investigation." "The United States will use any means necessary to protect our citizens and those of our allies from unjust prosecution by this illegitimate court," he said.

Bolton's speech comes as the Trump administration is shuttering the Palestine Liberation Organization office in Washington, a controversial move. That development comes after the White House said over the weekend it was cutting $25 million in funding for health services in the heavily Palestinian East Jerusalem.

Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever </s> National Security Adviser John Bolton is speaking to the Federalist Society Monday on protecting America's constitutional principles and sovereignty from international threats.

It's Bolton's first public address since joining the White House earlier this year. The speech comes as the Trump administration is shuttering the Palestine Liberation Organization office in Washington, a controversial move. That development comes after the White House said over the weekend it was cutting $25 million in funding for health services in the heavily Palestinian East Jerusalem.

Ahead of Bolton's speech, a protester holding a pink "Iran wants Peace" sign and shouting Bolton is a "war hawk" was forcibly removed from the stage by security.
• None Who is John Bolton, the National Security Adviser? 



The Federalist Society is a conservative legal group that has supported the nomination and confirmation process of both Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch and Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Bolton has spoken to the group on foreign policy in years past. </s> The United States on Monday will adopt an aggressive posture against the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, threatening sanctions against its judges if they proceed with an investigation into alleged war crimes committed by Americans in Afghanistan.

President Donald Trump's national security adviser, John Bolton, is to make the announcement in a midday speech to the Federalist Society, a conservative group, in Washington. It will be his first major address since joining the Trump White House.

"The United States will use any means necessary to protect our citizens and those of our allies from unjust prosecution by this illegitimate court," Bolton will say, according to a draft of his speech seen by Reuters.

Bolton will also say that the State Department will announce the closure of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) office in Washington out of concern about Palestinian attempts to prompt an ICC investigation of Israel.

The PLO office in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment. </s> National Security Adviser John Bolton is speaking to the Federalist Society Monday on protecting America’s constitutional principles and sovereignty from international threats.

It’s Bolton’s first public address since joining the White House earlier this year. The speech comes as the Trump administration is shuttering the Palestine Liberation Organization office in Washington, a controversial move. That development comes after the White House said over the weekend it was cutting $25 million in funding for health services in the heavily Palestinian East Jerusalem.

Ahead of Bolton’s speech, a protester holding a pink “Iran wants Peace” sign and shouting Bolton is a “war hawk” was forcibly removed from the stage by security.

The Federalist Society is a conservative legal group that has supported the nomination and confirmation process of both Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch and Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Bolton has spoken to the group on foreign policy in years past. </s> WASHINGTON – The Trump administration will announce Monday plans to shutter the Palestine Liberation Organization’s office in Washington – a move that drew an immediate rebuke from Palestinian officials who said the White House is trying to bully them.

"We have been notified by a US official of their decision to close the Palestinian Mission to the US.," Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator, said in a statement Monday. "This is yet another affirmation of the Trump Administration’s policy to collectively punish the Palestinian people, including by cutting financial support for humanitarian services including health and education."

Trump's National Security Adviser, John Bolton, plans to announce the move in a speech Monday before the Federalist Society, according to the Washington Post and other media.

The Post and other media also reported that Bolton will threaten to slap sanctions on those who cooperate with any International Criminal Court investigation into alleged U.S. war crimes in Afghanistan. The ICC has long been controversial, with critics like Bolton suggesting it's a threat to American sovereignty.

But it's also particularly difficult flashpoint between the U.S. and the Palestinians. That's because last year, Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, speaking at the United Nations General Assembly, suggested taking the issue of Israeli settlements to the International Criminal Court.

The Trump administration first threatened to close down the PLO's office in Washington last fall but later backed off. Bolton's decision to finalize that move will further inflame tensions between the U.S. and the Palestinians – coming on the heels of the Trump administration's decision to nix funding for U.S. aid to the West Bank and Gaza and to freeze support for the United Nation's program that supports Palestinian refugees.

"This dangerous escalation shows that the US is willing to disband the international system in order to protect Israeli crimes and attacks against the land and people of Palestine as well as against peace and security in the rest of our region," Erekat said Monday.

He said the Palestinians would "take the necessary measures to protect the rights of our citizens living in the United States to access their consular services." </s> Another high-ranking National Security Council staffer is leaving the White House as new National Security Adviser John Bolton makes his mark.

Nadia Schadlow tendered her resignation in a letter Tuesday. It's effective April 27.

The deputy national security adviser for strategy was a confidante of ex-National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster and oversaw the president's first National Security Strategy document.

White House spokesman Raj Shah says the administration thanks Schadlow for "her service and leadership" and says, "We wish Nadia and her family the best."

She's one of a handful of high-level staffers who've chosen to leave or been pushed out since Bolton's appointment. They include spokesman Michael Anton and Homeland Security Adviser Tom Bossert.

More departures are expected in the coming weeks as Bolton works to build his team. </s> National Security Advisor John Bolton blasted the International Criminal Court in a blistering speech Monday, where he slammed 'unjustifiable' investigations of U.S. treatment of detainees after Sept. 11th.

'We will not cooperate with the ICC. We will provide no assistance to the ICC. And we certainly will not join the ICC,' Bolton said Friday in a speech to the conservative Federalist Society in Washington.

'We will let the ICC die on its own. After all, for all intents and purposes, the ICC is already dead to us,' he inveighed.

He threatened the U.S. would 'take note' of any countries who cooperate with the ICC.

'We will remember that cooperation when setting U.S. foreign assistance, military assistance, and intelligence sharing levels,' he warned.

Bolton cast the international body, which he helped the U.S. pull away from as UN ambassador during the Bush administration, as a 'free-wheeling global organization claiming jurisdiction over individuals without their consent.'

He also announced the Trump Administration would be closing a Palestinian Liberation Organization office in Washington – saying it would not remain open while it would not start 'direct and meaningful' peace talks with Israel.

'Today, reflecting Congressional concerns with Palestinian attempts to prompt an ICC investigation of Israel, the State Department will announce the closure of the Palestine Liberation Organization office here in Washington, D.C.,' Bolton said.

'As President Reagan recognized in this context, the Executive has "the right to decide the kind of foreign relations, if any, the United States will maintain," and the Trump Administration will not keep the office open when the Palestinians refuse to take steps to start direct and meaningful negotiations with Israel. The United States supports a direct and robust peace process, and we will not allow the ICC, or any other organization, to constrain Israel's right to self-defense,' Bolton said.

Bolton laid out an aggressive posture against the International Criminal Court, threatening sanctions against ICC judges if they proceed with an investigation into alleged war crimes committed by Americans in Afghanistan.

Bolton was heckled during a protester he said was from the group Code Pink.

'I ask everyone in the room today: would you consign the fate of American citizens to a committee of other nations, including Venezuela and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and entities that are not even states, like the Palestinian Authority?' Bolton asked the Federalist Society Members at the high-end Mayflower hotel during his luncheon address.

He called the ICC the 'Founders' worst nightmare come to life.'

He ripped it as 'an elegant office building in a faraway country that determines the guilt or innocence of American citizens.'

'Had the ICC existed during the Second World War, America's enemies would no doubt be eager to find the United States and its allies culpable for war crimes for the bombing campaigns over Germany and Japan,' Bolton said.

Bolton blasted an ICC prosecutor for sharing confidential documents with actress Angelina Jolie, who holds a UN human rights post.

'Recent allegations of mismanagement and corruption among ICC personnel make this perfectly clear. The first Prosecutor elected by the Assembly of States Parties attempted to protect a high-ranking government official from prosecution, assisted a businessman with links to violations in Libya, and shared confidential court documents with Angelina Jolie,' Bolton said.

He also came armed with a threat: 'If the Court comes after us, Israel or other U.S. allies, we will not sit quietly. We will take the following steps, among others, in accordance with the American Servicemembers' Protection Act and our other legal authorities,' Bolton said, before laying out several steps.

One threatened response: 'We will take note if any countries cooperate with ICC investigations of the United States and its allies, and we will remember that cooperation when setting U.S. foreign assistance, military assistance, and intelligence sharing levels,' he said.

'We will ban its judges and prosecutors from entering the United States. We will sanction their funds in the U.S. financial system, and, we will prosecute them in the U.S. criminal system. We will do the same for any company or state that assists an ICC investigation of Americans,' Bolton threatened.

'Well I hope that's clear to everybody,' he said when his blistering remarks were concluded.

Bolton's speech was his first major address since joining the Trump White House.

'The United States will use any means necessary to protect our citizens and those of our allies from unjust prosecution by this illegitimate court,' Bolton said, according to a draft of his speech seen by Reuters.

Bolton said that the State Department will announce the closure of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) office in Washington out of concern about Palestinian attempts to prompt an ICC investigation of Israel.

'The United States will always stand with our friend and ally, Israel,' says Bolton's draft text.

The Palestinians said they were undeterred from going to the ICC. They described the planned PLO mission closure as the latest pressure tactic by a Trump administration that has slashed funding to a U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees and to hospitals in East Jerusalem, which Palestinians want as capital of a future state.

'We reiterate that the rights of the Palestinian people are not for sale, that we will not succumb to U.S. threats and bullying,' Palestinian official Saeb Erekat said in a statement.

'Accordingly, we continue to call upon the International Criminal Court to open its immediate investigation into Israeli crimes.'

There was no immediate response from Israel, where government offices were closed for the Jewish new year.

Bolton's draft speech says the Trump administration 'will fight back' if the ICC proceeds with opening an investigation into alleged war crimes committed by U.S. service members and intelligence professionals during the war in Afghanistan.

If such an inquiry goes ahead, the Trump administration will consider banning judges and prosecutors from entering the United States, put sanctions on any funds they have in the U.S. financial system and prosecute them in American courts.

'We will not cooperate with the ICC. We will provide no assistance to the ICC. We will not join the ICC. We will let the ICC die on its own. After all, for all intents and purposes, the ICC is already dead to us,' says Bolton's draft text.

In addition, the United States may negotiate more binding, bilateral agreements to prohibit nations from surrendering Americans to The Hague-based court, says the text.

The court's aim is to bring to justice the perpetrators of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.

The United States did not ratify the Rome treaty that established the ICC in 2002, with then-President George W. Bush opposed to the court. Bush's successor, President Barack Obama, took some steps to cooperate with it.

'We will consider taking steps in the U.N. Security Council to constrain the court´s sweeping powers, including to ensure that the ICC does not exercise jurisdiction over Americans and the nationals of our allies that have not ratified the Rome Statute,' says Bolton's draft text.

Palestinians have reacted with dismay to the U.S. funding cuts, warning that they could lead to more poverty and anger - among factors stoking their decades of conflict with Israel.

Trump last week ordered that $25 million earmarked for the care of Palestinians in East Jerusalem be directed elsewhere.

'This decision will create serious cash-flow problems at the hospitals and will necessarily create delays in life-saving and other urgent treatments,' Walid Nammour, head of the network of six hospitals affected, told reporters on Monday. 'Overall, the decision puts the health of 5 million Palestinians at risk.' </s> WASHINGTON—Another high-ranking National Security Council staffer is leaving the White House as new National Security Adviser John Bolton makes his mark.

The deputy national security adviser for strategy was a confidante of ex-National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster and oversaw the president’s first National Security Strategy document.

White House spokesperson Raj Shah says the administration thanks Schadlow for “her service and leadership” and says, “We wish Nadia and her family the best.”

She’s one of a handful of high-level staffers who’ve chosen to leave or been pushed out since Bolton’s appointment. They include spokesman Michael Anton and Homeland Security Adviser Tom Bossert. </s> The deputy national security adviser for strategy will step down at the end of the month, a report said Wednesday.

Nadia Schadlow is the third senior national security official to leave the White House since President Trump named John Bolton as his national security adviser to replace H.R. McMaster, CNN reported.

Schadlow, a close adviser to McMaster, met with Bolton on Tuesday and submitted her resignation “to allow him to build his own NSC leadership team,” the report said, citing a White House official.

Her last day will be April 27.

White House homeland security adviser Tom Bossert announced he was stepping down on Tuesday and spokesman Michael Anton resigned Sunday.

Bolton began at the White House on Monday.

The administration thanked Schadlow for helping craft the president’s “America First” national security strategy.

“The strategy has set a strong foundation going forward for protecting the homeland, promoting American prosperity, preserving peace through strength and advancing American influence,” White House spokesman Raj Shah said in a statement to CNN.
The Wall Street Journal reports that National Security Advisor John R. Bolton is expected to announce today the closure of the Palestine Liberation Organization office in Washington.