The Biden administration’s decision to swap WNBA basketball star Brittney Griner for a convicted Russian arms dealer establishes “the wrong incentives for the bad guys” and makes international travel less safe for Americans, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says.
“My mission was always to get every American back but, at the same time, not create the risk that more Americans would be taken,” he said, referring to efforts during the Trump administration to secure the freedom of U.S. citizens held abroad.
There’s “no doubt” that the high-profile prisoner exchange that saw Griner freed means that “all the bad guys” around the world who hold Americans in detention see that “if you take a celebrity, the chance of getting one of your bad guys back out of American control is greater,” Pompeo said.
He said it raises the risk that celebrities and other prominent U.S. citizens could be kidnapped by unfriendly regimes and other nefarious actors.
In the interview, Pompeo was asked to comment on speculation that the Trump administration had engaged in talks with Russia about exchanging Bout for former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, who remains imprisoned in Russia on espionage charges.
Pompeo declined to discuss the specifics of the case, saying only that repeated efforts were been made to secure the release of every American held hostage anywhere, including Whelan. The former secretary of state was adamant that, under Trump, the policy was not to make prisoner swaps involving celebrities.
“We weren’t going to trade bad guys for celebrities because it creates the wrong incentives for the bad guys. As we go forward, it’s not good for American national security,“ Pompeo added. ”It’s not good for people who are traveling across the world.”
The White House didn’t immediately respond to a request by The Epoch Times for comment.
‘My Bags Are Packed’
Griner was released by Russian authorities on Dec. 8 in a swap for convicted arms dealer Viktor Bout.Whelan, whose release the Biden administration sought, but failed to secure as part of the swap, remains behind bars.
President Joe Biden said during a White House briefing last week that his administration has “not forgotten about Paul Whelan, who has been unjustly detained in Russia for years.”
The president added that the Russian government “is treating Paul’s case differently than Brittney’s.”
In the phone call to CNN, Whelan insisted he’s innocent and is baffled as to why he remains incarcerated.
“I was arrested for a crime that never occurred,” he told the outlet. “I don’t understand why I’m still sitting here.”
Whelan added that “my bags are packed. I’m ready to go home. I just need an airplane to come and get me.”
Family Reaction
Whelan’s brother David said in a statement that the Biden administration’s failure to secure the former Marine’s release is a “disappointment” to the family and a “catastrophe” for Paul Whelan.At the same time, David Whelan said it was the “right decision” to secure Griner’s release.
“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,” he said.
U.S. officials have said they didn’t see an immediate path to bringing about Whelan’s release, saying Russia has treated his case differently because of the “sham espionage” charges against him.
Whelan was arrested at a Moscow hotel and accused of espionage in 2018.
Still, they said they believe communication channels with the Russians remain open to negotiation for his freedom.
“We didn’t want to lose the opportunity today to secure the release of one of them,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.
Griner for Bout
The 32-year-old Griner is a two-time Olympic gold medalist who plays for the Women’s National Basketball Association’s Phoenix Mercury team.She had been playing in Russia during the league’s offseason and was arrested in February after customs officials found vaping cartridges containing cannabis oil, a substance that’s illegal in Russia, in her possession.
Griner pleaded guilty while explaining that she had been prescribed cannabis for chronic pain and had packed the substance in her luggage inadvertently.
She was sentenced to nine years in prison. and after her appeal was denied, Griner began serving time at a penal colony in Mordovia in November, her lawyers told media outlets.
Griner’s release came in exchange for Bout, a 55-year-old arms dealer who was serving a 25-year sentence and wasn’t due for release until 2029.
Bout, known as the “Merchant of Death,” was working to sell millions of dollars worth of weapons, including 800 surface-to-air missiles and 30,000 AK-47s, to Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia, a designated foreign terrorist group based in Colombia, to kill Americans there, according to prosecutors.
Biden said at a White House briefing that Griner’s release was “a day we have worked toward for a long time.”
“We never stopped pushing for her release. It took painstaking and intense negotiations, and I want to thank all the hardworking public servants across my administration who worked tirelessly to secure her release.”
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