Brittney Griner is a basketball player for the WNBA. In February 2022, Griner was detained by Russian customs after cartridges containing hashish oil were found in her luggage.

She is a petty criminal and she actually broke the law. So why is the US trying to muscle in on it? If she was given an absurdly long sentence, then okay, but she hasn't even been sentenced yet. There's no indication that Russia has done anything improper in her case, the Biden is just freaking out because she's a black woman caught with weed.

Paul Nicholas Whelan (born March 5, 1970) is a Canadian with U.S., British, and Irish citizenship. He is described as a corporate security director. He received a bad conduct discharge from the US Marine Corps. After a court-martial conviction in January 2008 on multiple counts "related to larceny", he was sentenced to 60 days restriction, reduction to pay grade E-4, and a bad conduct discharge.[9][10] The specific charges against him included attempting to steal more than $10,000 in 2006 in Iraq and using a false Social Security number to create a false account on a government computer system to grade his own examinations.

He's not even American. He's not our problem. And he's clearly a scumbag anyway.

We should not be trading anyone for these people. The US should not get involved in foreign criminal matters involving Americans unless it is clearly a fake charge (not the case here) or the punishment is wildly excessive.

I guess Russia isn't...Blinken in this stare down.

(Sorry)

Huh. I wonder what they've got with that spy then.