Top US ‘Nazi hunter’ to lead Justice Department effort to uncover war crimes in Ukraine

By Hannah Rabinowitz, CNN

The top US “Nazi hunter” will lead a Justice Department team to identify and prosecute anyone who has committed war crimes in Ukraine, Attorney General Merrick Garland said Tuesday during an unannounced visit to that country.

The team, Garland said, will be led by the department’s best-known Nazi hunter Eli Rosenbaum, and will be made up of experts in investigations involving human rights abuses and war crimes. Rosenbaum, a 36-year veteran of the Justice Department, previously served as the director of Human Rights Enforcement Strategy and Policy, and helped the department over 100 cases to strip citizenship from or deport accused Nazis, according to the Justice Department.

The announcement is a signal from DOJ that it is interested in investigating war crimes in the ongoing war in Ukraine and follows a previous effort by the department to lock down the assets of Russian oligarchs.

“There is no hiding place for war criminals. The US Justice Department will pursue every avenue of accountability for those who commit war crimes and other atrocities in Ukraine,” Garland said in Ukraine. “Working alongside our domestic and international partners, the Justice Department will be relentless in our efforts to hold accountable every person complicit in the commission of war crimes, torture, and other grave violations during the unprovoked conflict in Ukraine.”

Garland also said that the DOJ will send three prosecutors to advise Ukraine, as well as countries in Europe and the Middle East, in fighting Russian efforts to evade global sanctions.

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