Trading Russian Arms Dealer for Basketball Star Is a ‘Bad Guys for Celebrities’ Swap That Puts US Lives at Risk: Pompeo

WNBA star and two-time Olympic gold medalist Brittney Griner sits in a cage at a court room prior to a hearing in Khimki, outside Moscow on July 27, 2022. Alexander Zemlianichenko/Pool via Reuters

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.

While Pompeo says he’s glad that Griner has been freed and is back in the United States, he sees some aspects of the exchange as problematic, he told Fox News during an appearance that aired on Dec. 11.