WNBA star Brittney Griner, 32, was released from a Russian penal colony in a long negotiation with the White House and Russia in a one-to-one prisoner swap with 55-year-old notorious Russian global arms dealer Viktor Bout. White House officials hoped for a two-for-one swap including 52-year-old former marine and police officer Paul Whelan who’s be serving time since 2018 for espionage in a Russian prison. Whelan was left out of the deal when the White House realized that their two-for-one swap was not happening. White House officials were under increased pressure to get the WNBA’s MVP Griner out, after she was convicted of cannabis possession Aug. 4 in a Moscow court. Griner entered Moscow’s Sheremetytevo airport Feb. 17 en route to playing basketball over the summer for Russia’s UMMC Ekaterinberg basketball team when she was caught with cannabis-laced vape-cartridges.
During a unnecessarily long trial, Brittney plead guilty July 14 to cannabis possession, eventually sentenced Aug. 4 to nine years in prison. On Oct. 25 Brittney’s appeal was rejected and she was transferred to a Russian penal colony. All the while, former U.N. Amb. and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson traveled as a private citizen on behalf of his Richardson Center, saying he throught Brittney would be out in some sort of prisoner swap by year’s end. Flying from Moscow today to the Abu Dhabi today for the official swap, Brittney is on her way for a medical check up in San Antonio, Texas, before reuniting with her wife, Cherelle in Phoenix, Ariz. Because of Biden’s active proxy war against the Russian Federation in Ukraine, it complicated Britnney’s release, making the deal far more complicated. U.S. diplomatic relations with the Russia have never been worse.
White House officials decided that they had no choice but to take an awful deal to get Brittney out of prison. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, 59, tried to negotiate a hard bargain for a two-for-one swap with Paul Whelan. When Russian officials made the offer for a one-for-one exchange swap with notorious 52-year-old Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, Putin had Biden in checkmate. Getting Brittney out, regardless of the deal, was a major coup for the Biden administration, already riding high after a better than expected showing in the 2022 Midterm elections. But when you consider the price paid by U.S. government to track down and prosecute Bout, Britney’s release was a bad deal, though the best under the circumstances. With Biden in a proxy war against the Russian Federation in Ukraine, it’s remarkable that any deal was made to get Brittney out of a Russian penal colony.
White House officials hoped to get Whelan out with a Griner prisoner-swap but must continue the negotiation to win his release. Getting one deal done was preferable to the White House than no deal. Kremlin Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that Blinken calling Brittney “wrongfully detained” hurt the chances of getting her out. Zakhaorva said the Brittney violated Russian drug laws and was legitimately arrested at the Sheremetyevo airport for cannabis possession. So over the last 10 months, White House officials continued to antagonize Russian authorities about the legitimacy of Brittney’s arrest, conviction and sentencing. White House officials insisted she was “wrongfully detained.” When it comes to deteriorated U.S.-Russian relations, it hurt Brittney;s chances of getting a prisoner swap. No one really knows if Biden paid a ransom to get Brittney out.
Like any negotiation, it’s as good as the time-and-circumstances around the deal. When Bill Richardson said Brittney would be out by year’s end, he obviously had reliable sources in Moscow. Hostage negotiation and prisoner swaps are big business, often not revealing the real deal that brought the prisoner home. “Brittney will soon be back in the arms of her loved one and she should have been there all along,” Biden said, after word that a deal for her release had been made. Dropping Whelan from the deal was a tough choice because it now appears the White House caved in to Russian demands to get any deal done. Bidien said that he will not forget about Whelan, putting a new deal together to get him out of Russian jail at the earliest possible time. “We have not forgotten about Paul Whelan,” Biden said today. “This was not a choice of which American to bring home,” Biden said.
Brittney was caught in a geopolitical vise because of the Ukraine War, making ordinary diplomacy all but impossible. Exchanging Brittney for Viktor Bout was like exchanging Shirley Temple for notorious Chicago mob boss Al Capone. U.S. officials were badly out negotiated because of the deteriorated diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Moscow. If the Griner prisoner swap tells anything, it’s that the U.S. and Russia needs desperately to end the Ukraine War and get back to some level of normal diplomatic relations. “I am so glad that Brittney Griner is on her way home,” said Whelan’s brother, David, told CBS News. “The Biden administration made the right decision to bring Ms. Griner home, and to make the deal that was possible, rather than waiting for one that wasn’t going to happen,” knowing under the current circumstances, it was the best deal possible.
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.