Saudi Crown Prince brokered deal to swap WNBA star Brittney Griner for Merchant of Death arms dealer Viktor Bout – who walked past each other on UAE airport tarmac – two days after America dropped Khashoggi lawsuit against the Saudi leader
- WNBA star Brittney Griner has been released from a Russian penal colony
- The Biden Administration struck a deal for a prisoner swap with the Kremlin
- The United States is returning arms dealer Viktor Bout back to Russia
- President Joe Biden said Griner was ‘in good spirits’ while on a plane home during remarks at the White House on Thursday morning
- American military veteran Paul Whelan remains in detention, which Biden noted
- GOP Rep. Mike Waltz accused White House of putting ‘celebrities over veterans’
A senior administration official would not comment directly on MBS’s role but said the U.S. will ‘continue to lean on partners around the world’ to secure the release of unjustly detailed Americans.
The swap happened at Abu Dhabi airport, where Griner and Bout had to walked past each other to reach their respective parties on the airport tarmac, Russian state media reports.
The official said Griner was ‘all smiles’ on the tarmac as she approached the American delegation.
The 32-year-old Griner was facing nine years in a Russian penal colony, where she was expected to toil in sweatshop conditions while sewing for 12 hours or more per day.
Addressing the nation from the White House on Thursday morning, the president said Griner was ‘in good spirits’ while returning home after undergoing ‘intolerable’ circumstances in Russian custody.
‘Brittney is an incomparable athlete, a two time Olympic gold medalist for Team USA. She endured mistreatment at a show trial in Russia with characteristic grit and incredible dignity. She represents the best America – the best about America,’ Biden said.
Biden spoke with Griner on the phone Thursday, along with her wife Cherelle, who was in the Oval Office for the occasion.
Biden’s authorization to release a Russian felon once nicknamed ‘the Merchant of Death’ underscored the escalating pressure that his administration faced to get Griner home, particularly after the recent resolution of her criminal case and her subsequent transfer to a penal colony.
The one-for-one swap was a surprise given that U.S. officials had for months expressed their determination to bring home both Griner and Paul Whelan, a Michigan corporate security executive jailed in Russia since December 2018 on espionage charges that his family and the U.S. government has said are baseless.
