On 12/8/2022, Joe Biden announced he traded the world’s most wanted Russian Viktor Bout for Brittney Griner. White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre defended Biden’s decision to swap Brittney Griner. Meanwhile, Paul Whelan, a former Marine who is now 52, is still imprisoned in Russia. Whelan was arrested in Russia in 2018 and accused of spying. He was sentenced to 16 years in prison.
Karine Jean-Pierre defended Biden and said Brittney Griner is an important role model for the queer community and women of color, “The choice was bring Brittney home or no one,” Karine Jean-Pierre said. “The president will never stop working to secure Paul Whelan’s release. On a personal note, Brittney is an important role model, an inspiration to millions of Americans particularly the LGBTQI+ Americans and women of color,” KJP said. Jean-Pierre added that the Kremlin was “not willing to negotiate in good faith” to release Whelan, who Russia convicted of spying, and side-stepped questions about Fogel — who, like Griner, was sentenced to prison this year for possessing a small amount of marijuana.
Karine Jean-Pierre faced a barrage of questions about President Biden’s decision to release notorious arms dealer Viktor Bout as part of a prisoner swap for basketball star Brittney Griner — while leaving fellow Americans Paul Whelan and Marc Fogel behind.
“Regrettably, due to nature of the totally illegitimate charges they levied against Paul, the Russians are treating this situation differently than Brittney’s situation and we have been unable to secure his release,” she added. “We made every possible offer available to us to secure Paul’s release. But there was no way to bring Paul home right now.”
Whelan, 52, was born in Canada and served in the Marine Corps during the Iraq War. He was arrested in Russia in 2018 and was sentenced to 16 years in prison for espionage. His defense attorney said he was apprehended with a thumb drive that contained “state secrets” but claimed that Whelan was given the files in a set-up after being told the drive had photos of churches.
Jean-Pierre would not directly address Fogel’s imprisonment, which unlike Griner and Whelan’s cases, has not officially been declared by the State Department to be wrongful detention. Fogel, 61, was arrested in August 2021 for possessing 17 grams of what he said was medical marijuana. The former history teacher, like Griner, was arrested in Moscow when the pot was found in his luggage.
Fogel was sentenced to 14 years in prison in June — just over a month before Griner was handed a nine-year sentence. The US government asked for Fogel to be released on humanitarian grounds, CNN reported, but reportedly did not include him in a proposed two-for-two prisoner swap involving Griner and Whelan.
“Have there have been any similar efforts regarding [the release of] American Marc Fogel, who was also in Russia, also arrested on marijuana charges? How is his case different — or why [are] the actions for Marc Fogel different than these?” asked NPR journalist Franco Ordoñez.
“We take seriously our responsibility to assist US citizens abroad and are monitoring the situation. Any specifics on Marc Fogel or any others, I would refer you to the State Department for additional information on those specific cases,” Jean-Pierre said.
“Every case is different. Every case, there are different ways that I can talk about them. So I don’t want to get ahead of that. So I would refer you to the State Department.”
“But you do see a difference between Griner’s case and Fogel’s case?” Ordoñez pressed.
“No, that’s not what I’m saying. I’m saying that sometimes we’re not able to talk about that particular individual … There are reasons for that — for their own security, for their own privacy,” Jean-Pierre said.
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Q: what differences between Paul Whelan & Brittney Griner? Marc Fogel & Griner? Set a precedent?