Bill Richardson travels to Russia to aid in Griner, Whelan release

In an attempt to bring Brittney Griner and U.S. Marine Paul Whelan home, former New Mexico Governor, Bill Richardson, traveled to Russia to meet with Russian officials to try and negotiate their release. While admirable, Richardson does not currently hold any office in the U.S. government, likely making his visit pointless.

In 2020, Whelan was sentenced to 16 years in Russian on espionage charges and Griner was recently convicted on drug charges and sentenced to nine years in prison. The United States government has classified both individuals as wrongfully imprisoned, but have been unable to negotiate their release.

Richardson made the decision on his own to travel to Moscow and is not there on official government business as he no longer holds office. U.S. officials are now concerned that Richardson’s visit could hinder the release of the Americans.

“Our concern is that private citizens attempting to broker a deal do not and cannot speak for the U.S. Government, and we have urged private citizens not to travel to Russia, owing to the dangers that they would face,” State Department spokesperson Ned Price said.

In the past, Richardson has worked as a U.S. diplomat and has assisted in the release of several Americans across the world as a government official through his own organization, Richardson Center for Global Engagement.

Richardson first got involved with Griner’s case at the request of her wife, Cherelle. While Griner’s family was encouraged by Richardson’s involvement, Dmitry Peskov, spokesperson for the Kremlin in Russia stated, “There were no meetings at the Kremlin.” Likewise, Richardson’s organization has not reported anything new from Russia thus far regarding negotiations..

While President Joe Biden has called Griner’s detention “unacceptable” and has said he will work “tirelessly and pursue every possible avenue” to ensure Griner’s and Whelan’s release, not much else has been said on the subject since her conviction in July.

In regard to Richardson’s visit, however, an anonymous government official told CNN that anyone “who’s going to Russia is going as a private citizen and they don’t speak for the US government.”

Biden is scheduled to meet with Griner’s wife and Whelan’s sister, Elizabeth, on Friday to reassure them that their cases are a priority. White House Press Secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, said “One of the things that the President wanted to make clear is, and one of the reasons he’s meeting with the families, is that he wanted to let them know that they remain front of mind and that his team is working on this every day, on making sure that Brittney and Paul return home safely.”