Academy Award-winning actor George Clooney called one of President Biden’s top aides last month to complain about the president’s criticism of the International Criminal Court’s action against Israeli leaders — a case his wife, Amal Clooney, worked on, according to three people familiar with the conversation.
For weeks, Biden’s reelection campaign has been running a fundraising contest for supporters to win an all-expenses-paid trip to Los Angeles to meet Obama, Clooney and Roberts at the event. Clooney still plans to attend the fundraiser, the people said. After Khan made the announcement, Amal Clooney, an international human rights lawyer, said in a statement that the prosecutor’s office had enlisted her to help with the investigation, asking her to review evidence of suspected war crimes and provide legal analysis. The statement, which was published by the Clooney Foundation for Justice, a human rights organization she started with her husband, said the team’s legal findings were “unanimous.
The White House later said sanctions against the ICC were “not the right answer,” while also saying it would work with Congress on other avenues to address the ICC’s “overreach.” Biden officials said they are willing to work with Congress on an alternative response, but they have declined to provide additional details.
Democrats fear young voters and communities of color, in particular, may not support the president at similar levels as they did four years ago, when Biden narrowly defeated Donald Trump.that would release many of the remaining hostages and provide a pathway to a permanent end to the war.The Biden campaign’s Los Angeles fundraiser with Obama and Clooney follows an April event where Biden appeared with Obama and former president Bill Clinton in New York City.