WNBA’s 31-year-old star Britney Grinder’s Russian attorney introduced new evidence yesterday in her drug possession case, after getting caught Feb. 17 with at least one gram of cannabis found vape cartridges in her luggage. Griner and her attorney have never denied that the hashish oil vape-cartridges were planted by Russian custom’s officials. On Julyt 7, Griner plead guilty to cannabis possess in a Moscow court raising the stakes in the globally-watched proceeding largely because of the U.S. proxy war using Ukrainian troops against the Russian Federation. When it comes to getting Britney out of Russian jail, 37-year-old NBA future hall-of-fame billionaire LeBron James said in an episode of his show “The Shop,” that he wasn’t sure Britney would want to come back to the states given the slow progress regarding her release. Britney has become a thorn in the Biden administration’s side.
Exchanging letters July 4, Brithey told 79-year-old President Joe Biden that he was “terrified” that she’s be stuck in a Russian jail indefinitely, prompting Biden to write her back that she’s not forgotten and everything that can be done to get her out is being done. When it comes to news evidence introduced at Britney’s trail, it cuts both ways. “The attending physician gave Brineyn recommendations for use of medical cannabis. The permission was issue on behalf of the Arizona Department of Health,” said Britneyu’s Russian lawyer Maria Blagovolina. Britney already told the presiding judge last month that she didn’t know she had the hashish-laced vape-cartridges, denying that she tried to evade or break Russian drug laws. Now her Russian defense attorney tells the same judge that she was authorized by the Arizona Dept. of Health to use medical marijuana to deal with certain injuries and chronic pain.
Any judge hearing both explanations would have to question the logical inconsistency saying, on the one hand, she didn’t mean to carry the hashish-vape cartridges, while, on the other hand, they were prescribed to her for medical use. It cannot be both ways, where she inadvertently packed them or were prescribed the vape-cartridges for medical use. Whatever the scenario, there’s no guarantee the judge will view Britney’s lawyer’s admission as exculpatory. More than likely, the judge will view the admission about medical cannabis as incriminating. But regardless of technicalities, the big picture doesn’t look good for Britney because she’s caught in Biden’s geopolitical quagmire, all caused because he got over-involved in defending Ukraine. Biden acts like U.S.-Russian relations never existed, tossing the U.S.-Russian relations under the bus. What justifies Biden’s warped logic?
Before the U.S. had any substantive relations with Kiev, there existed long-standing, stable and pragmatic relations with the Russian Federation, dating back to the Soviet days after the end of WW II. Why under Biden has the U.S.-Russian relation been so trashed, so wrecked, so undermined to the point Biden pays Ukraine to fight a proxy war to topple the Kremlin government of 69-year-old Russian President Vladimir Putin? Whatever Biden does now to help get Britney out, it’s a real long-shot, given the state of war between the U.S. and Russian Federation. Britney’s Russian basketball teammate spoke to the court as a character witness. “Britney has always been a good teammate, which is why my role her is to support her and be there for her” said UMMC Ekaterinburg team captain Evgeniya Belykaova. Whatever Belyakova says, it doesn’t fix the abysmal U.S.-Russian relationship.
Britney’s Russian attorney’s thought that a guilty plea would help finish the court case, get a mitigated sentence and expedite some type of prisoner swap perhaps involving 56-year-old notorious Russian arms smuggler Viktor Bout, currently serving out a 25-year sentence since 2018 for his arms smuggling. “The Russians have said they wouldn’t really consider a prisoner swap until she has been found guilty, so this expedites that matter,” said William Pomeranz, acting director of the Wilson’s Center Kennan Institute, an expert in Russian law. “If she wants to return home and she believes they’re working on a prisoner swap, the faster that this proceeding ends, the faster she can get home,” Pomeranz said, speaking of normal circumstances. But with Biden fighting a proxy war with Ukrainian fighters to topple the Russian Federation, all bets are off about getting Griner out.
Biggest obstacle to getting Griner and other detainees out from Russian jails is Biden belligerent relations to the Kremlin. Biden thinks he’s back in the Soviet era requiring tough U.S. diplomacy on nuclear arms or the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. For years, after the Cold War ended, U.S.-Russian relations under every other U.S. president were always cordial, practical and based on mutual interests. Only since Biden took over Jan. 20, 2021, has U.S. relations with Russia and China deteriorated to the point of conflict. Newer before has a U.S. president said a Russian president must be removed from power. Never before has a U.S. president been so reckless in wrecking foreign relations with the world’s biggest nuclear superpowers. When it comes to a deal for Griner or other U.S. hostages, Biden has made deal-making a whole lot more difficult, if not impossible.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
