The scandal undoing the ICC

Summary of The scandal undoing the ICC

by Vox

28m•July 29, 2026
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Overview of The scandal undoing the ICC

This episode explains how the International Criminal Court (ICC) became engulfed in overlapping crises: the removal of its chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, after a long UN investigation into sexual misconduct allegations; growing claims that his case was entangled with geopolitical retaliation over the ICC’s work on Israel-Palestine; and a renewed U.S. attack on the court under Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The episode argues that the ICC is under intense pressure from both internal scandal and external political warfare, and that those two forces are now impossible to separate cleanly.

Karim Khan’s removal and the misconduct allegations

What happened

  • Karim Khan, the ICC’s chief prosecutor, was removed from his position after a UN watchdog investigation into allegations that he sexually abused a female colleague.
  • The allegations first surfaced in 2024, when a young lawyer on Khan’s team confided in coworkers about escalating behavior she described as abusive and emotionally coercive.
  • She initially did not want the matter to become public because she feared damaging the court’s work.

Khan’s response

  • Khan has consistently denied wrongdoing.
  • His legal team argues the process that led to his ousting was unfair and politically motivated.
  • They say the timing of the allegations is suspicious because they surfaced after Khan sought arrest warrants for senior Hamas figures and for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then-Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

A second allegation

  • The transcript notes that a second woman also came forward with similar allegations about Khan’s behavior earlier in his career, adding to the seriousness of the scrutiny.

Politics, retaliation, and the ICC’s Israel case

Why the timing mattered

  • Khan’s decision to seek arrest warrants against Israeli leaders made him a target for intense political backlash.
  • The episode emphasizes that it is possible for two things to be true at once:
    • the allegations against Khan may be credible and serious, and
    • Israel and its allies may also be exploiting the scandal to weaken the ICC.

Pressure on the court

  • The Guardian’s Harry Davies describes years of Israeli intelligence efforts to spy on, intimidate, and pressure the ICC.
  • At the same time, the transcript warns against collapsing the misconduct allegations into a pure conspiracy narrative; the allegations themselves still warranted scrutiny.

The U.S. campaign against the ICC

Marco Rubio’s reversal

  • The episode highlights Rubio’s dramatic shift from past support for international justice to a far more hostile stance toward the ICC.
  • As secretary of state, he has launched sanctions and broader efforts to weaken the court’s influence.

What the U.S. can and cannot do

  • Former ambassador Beth Van Schaack explains that the United States cannot simply “dismantle” the ICC on its own.
  • But it can:
    • sanction judges, prosecutors, NGOs, and UN figures,
    • block financial access,
    • restrict travel,
    • and pressure states to withdraw or stop cooperating with the court.
  • The episode notes that these measures are already harming the ICC’s operations and legitimacy.

Why the ICC exists, and why the U.S. has never joined

Core mission of the court

  • The ICC was created to prosecute the worst international crimes when national systems cannot or will not act.
  • Its purpose is to provide accountability in extraordinary cases involving atrocities and gross abuses of power.

The U.S. relationship with the court

  • The U.S. signed the treaty under Clinton but never ratified it.
  • Longstanding American objections center on jurisdiction over U.S. personnel operating in countries that are ICC members.
  • The relationship has swung repeatedly:
    • Bush era: hostile, especially during the Afghanistan torture investigation.
    • Obama era: partial reset and selective support.
    • First Trump administration: aggressive opposition and sanctions.
    • Biden era: another reset, including bipartisan support for accountability in Ukraine.
    • Second Trump administration: renewed confrontation.

Netanyahu, New York, and the limits of ICC enforcement

Can Netanyahu be arrested in New York?

  • The transcript says the odds are effectively zero.
  • Even though the ICC has issued a warrant, U.S. federal law and the UN headquarters agreement create major legal protections and practical barriers.

What would happen instead

  • If Netanyahu visited New York, he could face massive protests and public embarrassment.
  • But an actual arrest is not realistically expected.

Main takeaways

  • The ICC is facing a two-front crisis: a serious internal misconduct scandal and an external political assault.
  • Khan’s removal has destabilized the court at exactly the moment it is under the most pressure over Israel, Palestine, Ukraine, and broader questions of legitimacy.
  • The U.S. cannot end the ICC, but it can seriously damage it through sanctions and diplomatic pressure.
  • The episode’s central warning is that attacking the court weakens international accountability for atrocities, even when the court itself is also struggling to police its own leadership.
  • In the end, the transcript suggests nobody comes out looking good: not the ICC, not the U.S., and not the broader political actors using the scandal for their own purposes.