Several outlets reported early Thursday that WNBA star Brittney Griner—and I use the term “star” loosely— had been released from a Russian prison in exchange for Viktor Bout.
Bout, nicknamed the “Merchant of Death,” is a former Soviet military officer who, up until now, was serving a 25-year sentence in the United States for crimes that included plotting to murder Americans, obtaining and transferring anti-aircraft missiles, and providing material support to a terrorist organization, according to CNN. He was convicted in 2011.
But, hey… at least the Phoenix Mercury—that’s the team Griner plays for—has their center back, which makes Joe Biden happy as a kid with an ice cream cone.
Griner had pleaded guilty to drug charges for having cannabis vaping supplies in her luggage before being sentenced to nine years in prison and being sent to a forced-labor camp. Despite the unfairness of her sentence, swapping Griner for a Russian terrorist seems like a rather imbalanced trade, akin to Barack Obama’s infamous swap of five senior Taliban terrorists for American deserter Bowe Bergdahl in 2014.
The swap seems particularly one-sided, considering that the Biden administration failed to repatriate Paul Whelan, a former U.S. Marine who has been unjustly detained in Russia since 2018 and is serving a 16-year sentence for espionage.
“This was not a choice about which American to bring home,” Biden claimed. “Sadly and for totally illegitimate reasons, Russia is treating Paul’s case differently than Brittney’s. And while we have not yet succeeded in securing Paul’s release, we are not giving up. We will never give up.”
Biden inspires little confidence.
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