WNBA player Brittney Griner said she was initially grateful for former President Donald Trump’s support in seeking her release from Russian imprisonment but later found it “disheartening” when the former president slammed the Biden administration for its negotiated deal with Russia that brought her home.
Griner was held in Russia for 10 months after being arrested on Feb. 17, 2022, for transporting cannabis oil, which is illegal in the country, in her bag. In December of that year, Griner’s release came as part of a prisoner exchange for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, but Paul Whelan, a U.S. Marine who is considered to have been wrongfully detained in a Russian prison since 2020 on espionage charges, was not included as part of the deal.
“What kind of a deal is it to swap Brittney Griner, a basketball player who openly hates our Country, for the man known as ‘The Merchant of Death,’ who i …