Researchers have lost access to evidence of alleged Russian war crimes following Trump admin funding cut
Researchers lost access to evidence of alleged Russian war crimes after the Trump administration cut funding for the Ukraine Conflict Observatory.
The database contained information on the locations of more than 30,000 abducted Ukrainian children and other potential war crimes committed by Russia.
Evidence collected by the Ukraine Conflict Observatory had been used in efforts to prosecute Russian officials, including the International Criminal Court arrest warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin.
House lawmakers expressed concern that vital data might have been deleted, though State Department officials deny this claim. Researchers have lost access to a major database of evidence on alleged Russian war crimes, including the locations of more than 30,000 abducted Ukrainian children, and funding for their work has been terminated, according to a letter from House lawmakers and a source familiar with the matter.
The Trump administration terminated financial support for the Ukraine Conflict Observatory, a State Department initiative launched in May 2022 'to capture, analyze, and make widely available evidence of Russia-perpetrated war crimes and other atrocities in Ukraine.' The funding was initially suspended as part of a sweeping foreign aid freeze in late January.
'The funding has been cut based on the assessments that we've been making regarding what was defining work within our framework of what was in America's interests,' State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said Wednesday.
The evidence collected by the Ukraine Conflict Observatory had been used in efforts to prosecute Russian officials for their alleged involvement in war crimes, including the International Criminal Court arrest warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin.
According to a source familiar, when the funding was initially frozen, the database was turned off and researchers at Yale University lost access. The researchers have also lost access to all critical resources, like satellite imaging, needed to collect evidence of war crimes.
The database included information not only on the abduction of the Ukrainian children, but on other Russian war crimes as well: attacks on energy infrastructure, attacks on civilian infrastructure, and destruction of cultural sites, the source said.
The database was specifically structured to pull together relevant elements for prosecution of war crimes, the source said. It is unclear who has access to the database, what will happen to the critical evidence it holds, and whether it will be able to be shared with the entities like the European Union law enforcement agency Europol.
According to the letter from House lawmakers, Yale's Humanitarian Research Lab (HRL) – which had been conducting research for the Ukraine Conflict Observatory – 'compiled three reports, sourced from satellite imagery and biometric data, tracking identities and locations of over 30,000 children from Ukraine at dozens of locations.'
'This data is absolutely crucial to Ukraine's efforts to return their children home,' the lawmakers said in the letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent Wednesday.
The importance of returning 'the forcibly transferred Ukrainian children' was a key topic in the meeting between top US and Ukrainian officials in Jeddah earlier this month, according to a joint statement after the meeting. In a call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky Wednesday, President Donald Trump asked 'about the children who had gone missing from Ukraine during the war, including the ones that had been abducted,' according to a statement about the call. 'President Trump promised to work closely with both parties to help make sure those children were returned home.'
Wednesday's letter, led by Ohio Democratic Rep. Greg Landsman, noted that the evidence was being preserved 'to be shared with Europol and the government of Ukraine to secure their return.'
'Yale HRL's funding has been terminated and the status of the secure evidence repository is unknown. This vital resource cannot be lost,' it said.
The lawmakers said they have 'reason to believe that the data from the repository has been permanently deleted.'
'If true, this would have devastating consequences,' wrote the 17 lawmakers, including Republican Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska.
Bruce and another State Department spokesperson said the data had not been deleted.
'The State Department does not hold the data for the Conflict Observatory. The data resides on a platform owned by MITRE as part of the program,' the unnamed spokesperson said, referring questions to the non-profit organization MITRE.
'To the best of MITRE's knowledge and belief, the research data that was compiled has not been deleted and is currently maintained by a former partner on this contract. Department of State has been made aware of data disposition,' MITRE told CNN.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
San Francisco Chronicle
3 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
The Latest: Justice Department to meet with Epstein's former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell
Justice Department officials are set to meet on Thursday with Ghislaine Maxwell, the imprisoned girlfriend of financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, according to a person familiar with the matter. The meeting in Florida, which Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said on Tuesday he was working to arrange, is part of an ongoing Justice Department effort to cast itself as transparent following fierce backlash from parts of President Donald Trump's base over an earlier refusal to release additional records in the Epstein investigation. A replica Oval Office on display near the White House just got a Trump makeover The replica Oval Office now looks exactly like President Trump's. But it's not the blingy version he's currently using. Visitors starting Thursday will experience the mock Oval Office as it was in the Republican president's first term, until it's redecorated again next year to incorporate the golden touches and other flourishes Trump brought to the workspace after he returned to power in January. 'Just like the White House itself, our Oval Office is a living space, so it changes and evolves as the actual Oval Office changes,' Stewart McLaurin, president of the White House Historical Association, said Wednesday as he led The Associated Press on a tour of the space as it was being revamped. The mock-up is inside 'The People's House: A White House Experience,' an educational center the association opened last year one block west of the Executive Mansion. House subcommittee voted Wednesday to subpoena Justice Department for Epstein files A House subcommittee voted to subpoena the Department of Justice for files in the Epstein case after Democrats successfully goaded GOP lawmakers to defy Trump and Republican leadership to support the action. The vote showed the intensifying push for disclosures in the Epstein investigation even as House Speaker Mike Johnson — caught between demands from Trump and clamoring from his own members for the House to act — was sending lawmakers home a day early for its August recess. Meanwhile, Democrats on a subcommittee of the powerful House Oversight Committee made a motion for the subpoena Wednesday afternoon. Three Republicans on the panel voted with Democrats for the subpoena, sending it through on an 8-2 vote tally. Democrats cheered the action as proof that their push for disclosures in the Epstein investigation was growing stronger. The committee agreed to redact information on victims, yet Democrats successfully blocked a push by Republicans to only subpoena information that was deemed to be 'credible' — language that Trump has also used when discussing what he would support releasing. Bondi facing Democratic calls to testify following report she told Trump he was in Epstein files Bondi is facing Democratic calls to testify before Congress after the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday that she told Trump his name was among many high-profile figures mentioned in the files, which the Justice Department this month said it would not be releasing despite a clamor from online sleuths, conspiracy theorists and members of Trump's base. Trump's personal ties to Epstein are well-established and his name is already known to have been included in records related to the wealthy financier. Sen. Adam Schiff responded to the report by calling on Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel to appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee. The Justice Department declined to comment on the report but issued a joint statement from Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche saying that investigators had reviewed the records and 'nothing in the files warranted further investigation or prosecution.' The mere inclusion of a person's name in Epstein's files does not imply wrongdoing and he was known to have been associated with multiple prominent figures, including Trump. Senate Democratic Leader calls for closed-door briefing on the Epstein files Democrats aren't letting up on their calls for disclosure from the Trump administration on the sex trafficking investigation into Jeffrey Epstein. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer started the morning off with a speech calling for a closed-door briefing for senators from the Trump administration on the Epstein files. While the administration is unlikely to comply with the New York Democrat's demand, Democrats are pouncing on the issue and have found some success this week by daring Republicans to join them in votes to demand disclosure of the files. 'A good number of people voted for Trump because he promised to be their voice against the so-called deep state. But now they've seen he's very much part of that deep state. He's right in the middle of it,' Schumer said. Lara Trump says she's sitting out the North Carolina Senate race The president's daughter-in-law formally made her decision public Thursday in a post on X, as news of RNC Chair Michael Whatley's expected entrance into the race emerged. Lara Trump said she was 'deeply grateful' for encouragement to seek the open seat in her home state and appeared not to close the door to a possible future run, saying she looked 'forward to the future, wherever that leads.' Lara Trump served alongside Whatley as RNC co-chair during last year's elections and had been seen as having the right of first refusal to seek the seat, which Democrats see as a top pickup opportunity in next year's midterms. Biden's former chief of staff appears on Capitol Hill for House Republican age inquiry Ron Klain, who served as former President Joe Biden's first chief of staff, entered the House Oversight Committee's hearing room just before 10 a.m. for testimony as part of House Republicans' probe into Biden's age and alleged cognitive decline. Klain took no questions as he entered the room. UnitedHealth stocks dip The stock price dropped 2%, or $6.13, to $286.50 on Thursday morning. Company shares have mostly shed value since December, when UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was fatally shot in midtown Manhattan on his way to the company's annual investor meeting. What to know about UnitedHealth Group The company's business covers more than 8 million people as the nation's largest provider of Medicare Advantage plans. The business has been under pressure in recent quarters due to rising care use and rate cuts. UnitedHealth also runs one of the nation's largest health insurance and pharmacy benefits management businesses. It also operates a growing Optum business that provides care and technology support. UnitedHealth says it is under a federal investigation and cooperating Shares of UnitedHealth Group dove early Thursday after the health care giant said it was under a Department of Justice investigation. The company said it has started complying with both criminal and civil requests from federal investigators and it was working cooperatively with them. '(UnitedHealth) has a long record of responsible conduct and effective compliance,' the company said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. Earlier this year, The Wall Street Journal said federal officials had launched a civil fraud investigation into how the company records diagnoses that lead to extra payments for its Medicare Advantage, or MA, plans. Those are privately run versions of the government's Medicare coverage program mostly for people ages 65 and over. RNC Chair Michael Whatley plans to run for an open Senate seat in North Carolina That's according to two people familiar with his thinking, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't permitted to speak on the record. President Trump, according to one of the people, asked him to make the run after Trump's daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, mulled the seat. Politico first reported news of Whatley's plans. Democrats see North Carolina as their top pickup opportunity next year after Sen. Thom Tillis announced his surprise retirement after clashing with Trump. While Lara Trump had been seen as having the right of first refusal, Whatley is considered by national Republicans to be a strong contender for the seat, thanks, in part, to the large fundraising network he's cultivated as RNC chair and his perceived loyalty to the president. He's a well-known name in the state, having served as GOP chair there, and has no voting record that could be used against him by Democrats. — Jill Colvin Trump's trip to Scotland highlights his complex relationship with his mother's homeland President Trump's trip to Scotland this week will be a homecoming of sorts, but he's likely to get a mixed reception. Trump has had a long and at times rocky relationship with the country where his mother grew up in a humble house on a windswept isle. He'll be met by both political leaders and protesters during the visit, which begins Friday and takes in his two Scottish golf resorts. It comes two months before King Charles III is due to welcome him on a formal state visit to the U.K. 'I'm not proud that he (has) Scottish heritage,' said Patricia Sloan, who says she stopped visiting the Turnberry resort on Scotland's west coast after Trump bought it in 2014. 'All countries have good and bad that come out of them, and if he's going to kind of wave the flag of having Scottish heritage, that's the bad part, I think.' Trump's schedule, according to the White House 3 p.m. ET — Trump will sign executive orders 4 p.m. — Trump will visit the Federal Reserve Man accused of attempting to assassinate Trump returns to court and hopes to represent himself The man charged with attempting to assassinate Trump last year at his Florida golf course will return to court Thursday to once again explain why he wants to fire his court-appointed lawyers and represent himself. Ryan Routh previously made the request earlier this month during a hearing in Fort Pierce before U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon. She didn't rule during the hearing but said she would issue a written order later. But now Routh, 59, is set to be back in front of Cannon, a day after his court-appointed federal public defenders asked to be taken off the case. Routh is scheduled to stand trial in September, a year after prosecutors say a U.S. Secret Service agent thwarted his attempt to shoot Trump as he played golf. Routh has pleaded not guilty to charges of attempting to assassinate a major presidential candidate, assaulting a federal officer and several firearm violations.
The Hill
3 minutes ago
- The Hill
Columbia settles with Trump: 5 things to know
Columbia University and the Trump administration announced a long-awaited settlement Monday night after months of negotiations. Columbia will pay $221 million to restore the more than $400 million in federal funding that was cut off by the administration, which had originally cited alleged inaction on antisemitism, though Education Secretary Linda McMahon pointed to more ideological motives. 'This is a monumental victory for conservatives who wanted to do things on these elite campuses for a long time because we had such far left-leaning professors,' McMahon said on Fox Business Network. The university, which saw some of the nation's most active pro-Palestinian campus demonstrations amid the war in Gaza, did not have to admit to wrongdoing in the deal, which is certain to put the higher education world on high alert. Columbia, Trump both tout deal as a win Both Columbia and the Trump administration positioned the deal as a victory from their perspective. 'This agreement marks an important step forward after a period of sustained federal scrutiny and institutional uncertainty,' acting university President Claire Shipman said in a statement. 'The settlement was carefully crafted to protect the values that define us and allow our essential research partnership with the federal government to get back on track,' she added. Columbia did avoid some earlier reported provisions that would have given the administration more control over its business. But with significant reforms still agreed upon, the president went to Truth Social to declare victory. 'It's a great honor to have been involved, and I want to thank and congratulate Secretary Linda McMahon, and all those who worked with us on this important deal,' he wrote. 'I also want to thank and commend Columbia University for agreeing to do what is right. I look forward to watching them have a great future in our Country, maybe greater than ever before!' Columbia agrees to multiple reforms Along with the more than $200 million Columbia will pay over three years, an additional $21 million will go to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to resolve all federal investigations against the university. Columbia also said it would implement reforms announced back in March such reviewing its Middle East curriculum and ending programs that 'promote unlawful efforts to achieve race-based outcomes, quotes, diversity targets or similar efforts,' with a report to monitor that progress. The university also agreed to ask incoming foreign students 'questions designed to elicit their reasons for wishing to study in the United States' and said it would provide information to the federal government regarding international students who are expelled. The school and the federal government will agree on an independent monitor to ensure the resolution is followed. Columbia did not try to fight in court Columbia's strategy with the Trump administration has appeared to be one of full cooperation, in contrast with other schools, particularly Harvard University, that have dug in their heels in opposition, filing multiple lawsuits against Trump's moves. While Columbia's faculty went through with its own lawsuit, a judge ruled only the university itself had the standing to bring a legal challenge to the Trump administration's actions. But Columbia decided, to a chagrin of staff and others in higher education, to try to come to an agreement. 'Columbia's longstanding research partnership with the federal government is vital to advancing our nation's progress in key areas of science, technology, and medicine,' Board of Trustees Co-Chairs David Greenwald and Jeh Johnson said in a statement on the matter. 'We are proud of the role we play in advancing this public service and preparing the next generations of students to meet complex challenges around the world,' they added. Trump sees this as roadmap for other universities One of the biggest concerns of higher education was Columbia's cooperation would lead the Trump administration to expect similar responses from other universities. 'Numerous other Higher Education Institutions that have hurt so many, and been so unfair and unjust, and have wrongly spent federal money, much of it from our government, are upcoming,' Trump wrote in his post announcing Columbia's settlement. McMahon, in her Fox Business interview, said, 'Our campuses are now what they should be. They're places for debate, they're places for education. They're not places for left-leaning riots and antisemitism.' Higher education looks to Harvard for hope From the start, Harvard and Columbia took opposite approaches in handling pressure from the administration. While Columbia worked on a deal with no retaliation, Harvard has sued multiple times, once for funding cuts and the other over attempts to take away its foreign students. The attempts to stop Harvard from enrolling foreign students were struck down by a judge, and a ruling over the funding pause is likely forthcoming. While Trump had indicated in June that a deal with Harvard could be forthcoming, such an announcement never came. Those in higher education are hoping Harvard keeps the fight going as a win against the oldest and richest nation in the country would pour even more gasoline on the Trump administration's fire to go after universities. 'Research that the government has put in jeopardy includes efforts to improve the prospects of children who survive cancer, to understand at the molecular level how cancer spreads throughout the body, to predict the spread of infectious disease outbreaks, and to ease the pain of soldiers wounded on the battlefield. As opportunities to reduce the risk of multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer's disease, and Parkinson's disease are on the horizon, the government is slamming on the brakes,' Harvard President Alan Garber said when Trump cut funding.
The Hill
3 minutes ago
- The Hill
Stephen Colbert's cancellation is making Democrats furious!
Why is the Democratic Party so furious about Stephen Colbert's cancelation? That's a question I've been asking myself all week, ever since we learned that the late-night host is losing his show, after CBS decided that $40 million in losses each year is too high a price to pay. This really shouldn't come as much of a surprise to people: It's hard out there for large traditional television organizations. They now face all sorts of competition from streaming and social media, from independent people who are, in some cases, a lot funnier than Stephen Colbert and can do what late-night hosts do for a fraction of the cost. I say there's more fun to be had on YouTube, on TikTok, on Substack, on X and elsewhere. That's how more and more people are getting their entertainment and their news — and late night is going to have to catch up. It just doesn't have the same relevancy, or pack the same punch. So ultimately, this was quite clearly a business decision. But try telling them that. Colbert is certainly acting like this is Donald Trump's fault — isn't everything. In fact, he recently swore at Trump on air, and Jon Stewart went further, singing an entire profanity-laden song about how much he hates Trump. I won't play the clip, because my very patient producers are getting sick of having to bleep every video I've requested this week, between this and Hunter Biden. Now look — even Keith Olbermann, perhaps the most relentlessly partisan, anti-Trump, anti-Republican mainstream progressive commentator on the planet, thinks this was probably just a business decision. He wrote on X: 'If they fired him to appease Trump, why are they letting him remain on the air as a lame duck, with nobody to stop him saying whatever he wants, for the next TEN MONTHS? They may have timed it to use it as a sop to Trump but this is like Phil Donahue getting cancelled.' Donahue being another former commentator, one I quite liked, who was eventually put out to pasture for business reasons. When Keith Olbermann is providing you a much-needed sanity check, you should be very, very afraid. Ultimately, I don't really blame the other late-night hosts — Stewart, Kimmel, Fallon, etc. — for showing industry solidarity with Colbert. But why are Democratic politicians also so upset about the cancelation? And trust me, they are furious. Rep. Ted Lieu is actually circulating a petition telling CBS not to cancel Colbert. Doesn't he have more important things to do, possibly on behalf of his constituents? Sen. Bernie Sanders weighed in as well. Bernie writes on X: 'CBS's billionaire owners pay Trump $16 million to settle a bogus lawsuit while trying to sell the network to Skydance. Stephen Colbert, an extraordinary talent and the most popular late night host, slams the deal. Days later, he's fired. Do I think this is a coincidence? NO.' Again, he has no evidence whatsoever that this was anything other than a business decision. The show was a huge money loser! I know Bernie isn't a huge fan of capitalism, but generally, when you're losing tons of money, the business pivots. Perhaps under democratic socialism, we'd have subsidized terrible political comedy? And of course Sen. Elizabeth Warren is equally outraged. Seriously, she won't stop tweeting about this. Does anyone think for a minute that various Democratic politicians would be furious if a conservative news channel canceled a conservative show? Or even if a show like the one you're watching right now, 'Rising,' got axed? We speak to perspectives all over the place. I doubt it would matter to most Democratic officials, except maybe to a few friends of the program who've enjoyed being interviewed here. No, the reason the end of Colbert is so infuriating is because the Democratic Party likes the content: And the content of Colbert was reliably anti-Trump. It just wasn't very funny.
