NYT: The Pentagon is withholding information on suspected war crimes in Ukraine.

(RT) ⸻ The US Department of Defense is at odds with the administration of President Joe Biden over helping the Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC) investigate alleged war crimes committed in Ukraine. The Pentagon is blocking Washington from sharing evidence gathered by US intelligence agencies about alleged atrocities committed by Russian forces amid Moscow's military campaign in Ukraine. US military chiefs are concerned that helping the ICC investigate Russians could set a precedent that could lead to the prosecution of Americans themselves. The US officially withdrew from the ICC in 2002 and has passed laws that limit the amount of support the government can provide the court. In December, Congress modified its longstanding restrictions on American help to the ICC, allowing Washington to assist the court with investigations and prosecutions related to the war in Ukraine. The US National Security Council convened a cabinet-level "principals committee" in an attempt to resolve the dispute, but Defense Secretary LLoyd Austin continued to object to sharing materials, while Biden has yet to resolve the matter. Senator Lindsey Graham, who helped push Congress to ease restrictions on aiding the ICC, has argued that the sooner we can get the information into the hands of the I.C.C., the better off the world will be. Russia has denied allegations of war crimes in Ukraine and has decried attempts by Western countries to "whip up a quasi-judicial mechanism" to hold Moscow accountable for the purported atrocities. In 2017, when the ICC tried to investigate alleged US war crimes in Afghanistan, Washington imposed sanctions on court personnel, prosecutors, and their families. The sanctions were lifted by the Biden administration in 2021 and the investigation was dropped.