Trade deal offered to bring Brittney Griner home

After months of negotiations, Brittney Griner’s release may be closer than originally anticipated. Griner pleaded guilty earlier this month to cannabis possession after her arrest at a Russian airport back in February.

On Wednesday, it was released that a potential trade for Griner was in the works and had been signed off on by President Joe Biden. The trade would bring home Griner and Paul Whelan who have both been classified as “wrongfully detained” by the United States Department of Justice. The caveat is that the United States would need to release Viktor Bout, a Russian arms dealer serving a 25-year sentence in the United States.

This trade has been a topic of conversation over the last several months, however, the Department of Justice (DOJ) has not shown support for it, since they do not typically participate in prisoner trades. Ultimately, President Biden would have the final say and authority to make the deal.

“We communicated a substantial offer that we believe could be successful based on a history of conversations with the Russians,” a senior administration official told CNN Wednesday. “We communicated that a number of weeks ago in June.”

While the prisoner swap was put on the table weeks ago, Griner’s trial will need to be concluded before she is able to be released. Whelan was convicted on suspected espionage back in 2018 and both prisoners’ families have urged the White House to assist in their release.

Griner was back in Russian court on Wednesday for her trial and still faces up to ten years in a Russian prison if convicted. During her testimony she shared that language translation was part of the issue during her arrest since she is not fluent in Russian, and was having a hard time understanding what was told to her. “I still don’t understand to this day how they ended up in my bags,” said Griner.

During her arrest at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo International Airport, Griner had been trying to use Google translate to figure out what documents the police had her sign. Her phone was confiscated after being taken into an interrogation room , and she had to sign more documents without knowing what they said. In addition, Griner did not have an attorney offered to her, nor were her rights read to her.

Griner’s lawyer, Alexander Boykov, explained during court that her arrest was not done properly and he would elaborate more during his closing argument, which should take place in a few weeks.

With all of the details of the trade deal unknown at this time and the trial still ongoing, it looks like Griner and Whelan will be in prison for a few more weeks at the very least, but with a trade deal being offered to the Russians, the hope is that the Americans will be back on U.S. soil in the coming months.