December 10, 2022

"Within the Justice Department, officials have long chafed at some of the prisoner exchanges pushed by the State Department..."

"... in part because law enforcement officials tend to believe that authorities should adhere to a 'like for like' rule, in which only individuals of equal status or criminal history should be exchanged. For example, exchanging spies for spies has long been an accepted practice at both the State Department and the Justice Department — but federal law enforcement officials frequently object to proposed swaps of convicted criminals for people who committed relatively minor offenses.... Robert Zachariasiewicz, a former DEA agent who was involved in the case against Bout, said... 'We just showed that it is really useful to have an American in your back pocket because you never know when you need them to trade'....

From "In freeing Griner, Biden faced resistance abroad and at home/The president faced opposition from the Justice Department, which viewed a one-for-one swap involving WNBA star Brittney Griner and the notorious arms dealer Viktor Bout as a mistake" (WaPo).

Senior current and former Justice Department officials who work on such prisoner exchanges note that part of their long-standing arguments to foreign governments when they seek arrest and extradition of foreign nationals is that the United States does not pursue criminal cases for political reasons — but turning around and later swapping Bout or others after they have been tried and convicted sends a signal that politics does influence U.S. prosecution decisions, potentially making it harder to accomplish future arrests and extraditions. "Most people in law enforcement believe that America needs to be seen as a rule-of-law nation, and that we run the risk of undermining our own arguments around the world if we play that same game and politicize our criminal investigations," [said Bill McMurray, a former FBI agent]....

As for Paul Whelan, the "U.S. Marine veteran who is serving a 16-year sentence on espionage charges that the U.S. considers bogus":

For months, State Department officials had advocated a swap involving Bout that would include the release of both Whelan and Griner, but Moscow refused unless the United States also secured the release of Vadim Krasikov, a former colonel from Russia’s internal spy agency, said officials familiar with the matter. Krasikov is serving a life sentence for murder in Germany, and Berlin had made clear that releasing him was a non-starter, a U.S. official said....

“Sadly, for totally illegitimate reasons, Russia is treating Paul’s case differently than Brittney’s,” Biden told reporters at the White House on Thursday. Russia’s demand for Krasnikov, and insistence that it would only trade Griner for Bout, one-for-one, continued until mid-November....

“This was not a choice of which American to bring home. The choice was one or none,” [Blinken] said...

31 comments:

Danno said...

The best swap I can think of (that would have avoided controversy) is slow Joe and Kamala for Griner.

tim maguire said...

Curious to see how this plays out. It's hard see any rational person not concluding that it should have been "none." This was not a deal that sound have happened on many levels.

Who's the audience here that Biden thinks he can win for the Democrats? Are there any WNBA fans who aren't already voting Dem?

Michael said...


Unfortunately for Brittany Garner her punishment continues as she'll now be forced to watch WNBA games.

gilbar said...

if (IF) Grinder had been a white, straight, male, member of the NRA..
Is there a person on earth that thinks Biden would have made this trade?

Why DID Biden make this trade?

Dave Begley said...

Some animals are more equal than others.

But it was the biggest trade in WNBA history. Both are good shooters.

Wilbur said...

It was an easy decision for Biden and his administration.

He pleases a few Leftist constituencies, including the media. They love the visuals of this, and slurp on Biden.

He gives up a dangerous individual, angering any reasonable American concerned about security. Not a constituency, so no problem.

It's why Inga is all for it.

rastajenk said...

Biden gets the blame, but the whole thing had to have been fixed by Obamatrons, they're still pulling the strings. All part of the fundamental transformation.

rwnutjob said...

First WNBA trade in history to make the news.

The Justice Department has reservations? Seriously?

What did they expect from the worthless America haters they have been illegally supporting?

Iman said...

If it wasn’t a mistake, Joe Biden wouldn’t have done it.

Captain BillieBob said...

Who was it that said never underestimate Joe's ability to fuck things up? Slow Joe has been wrong about every one of his foreign policies.
Bout should have stayed where he was. There is no acceptable exchange for a mass murderer.

iowan2 said...

NBC news, reporting their interview with Whalens Russian lawyer, the offered deal was a one for one trade. Griner, or Whalen, for the Merchant of Death.
Big Surprise, NBC edited the detail out of the story and inserted the WH talking points that Whalen was never a possibility.

This mirrors the Paul Pelosi story, where NBC reported body cam video showed Pelosi answering the door, letting the cops in, and then going back to talk to buddy, and recieving his beating. That was the last reporting on anything Paul Pelosi The reporter has not been seen on TV or his name attached to any story since then.

GrapeApe said...

That was not an even exchange. A murderer for a dope-head? Yet one more failure of the Biden clowns. That seems to be their best cake.

Mike Petrik said...

It is possible that Putin was only willing to offer Griner, but we certainly cannot trust this Administration's claims, and unfortunately our lapdog media won't bother to really check.
But even on its face this was a very bad deal. Griner wasn't even that sympathetic of a victim given that she chose to travel to Russia in the face of a State Department "Do Not Travel" advisory. People who assume risks sometimes have to pay the piper.

Owen said...

This was a genius trade. The purpose was to demoralize America. And by “demoralize” I mean “de-moralize”—break down and annul the moral values on which we depend. Here, giving up a stone killer and taking in trade a pissant ingrate —while bending to thug Putin and leaving behind a Marine who had served his nation— shows massive (deliberate; willful) incompetence and outright cowardice, as well as pandering to hard Left interests. Public trust has collapsed and only cynical disgust remains.

Almost everybody loses here, and therefore Biden wins. Two more years of this? I doubt we’ll make it.

Dave Begley said...

Putin totally played Rice. NBC first reported - and Russian state-media still reports - that Putin gave Biden the choice of BG or the Marine. Biden made the intersectional pick for his base.

Lurker21 said...

If we had sent them Max Boot (Макс Бут) as well as Victor Bout (Виктор Бут) we might have been able to get Whelan out.

BUMBLE BEE said...

Biden has got a thing for dopers... runs in the family.

BUMBLE BEE said...

3 WOOPS Blogger taking up the Twitter slack?

n.n said...

A drug-addled player who knowingly ignored another culture's law or a former Marine, who honorably served America and her government, falsely accused. Choices. 50 shades of Americans left behind in Libya, Afghanistan, border patrol, etc.

Michael K said...

Blogger Dave Begley said...

Putin totally played Rice. NBC first reported - and Russian state-media still reports - that Putin gave Biden the choice of BG or the Marine. Biden made the intersectional pick for his base.


Second NBC story to vanish into the memory hole. I hope that guy who reported that Pelosi opened the door for the cops is still alive.

Joe Smith said...

"It is possible that Putin was only willing to offer Griner..."

I think it was NBC (or another big outlet) that reported otherwise, but it was quickly scrubbed, like the Pelosi debacle.

Biden was given a CHOICE by Russia and he chose the 3-fer (black, woman, gay).

American is rotten...

Enigma said...

In playing to his woke base, Biden alienated many in the military-international relations constituencies. In other words, a good many people in the "deep state" three-letter agencies. The swap will come back to bite, just as alienating working class voters in 2016 bit Hillary. The problems with this swap were fully obvious from the start to anyone other than the hardcore woke, so it will come to be seen as a textbook case of 'hoisted on his own petard.'

I'm expecting many of the 50+ intelligence officials who denied the Hunter Biden story to also break away. They will reject obvious nonsense or lose their credibility, power, and consulting paychecks.

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/10/19/hunter-biden-story-russian-disinfo-430276

Tom T. said...

This deal makes minority Americans in foreign countries an especially high-value target for future exchanges.

Sebastian said...

"it is really useful to have an American in your back pocket"

A particular kind of privileged American that is useful in American domestic politics.

Anyway, this was clearly like for like: for progs, a black lesbian America hater is the equivalent of a deadly arms trader.

Not only did Vlad make a good deal, he made a point about American priorities.

rcocean said...

Vadim Krasikov was convicted of killing a Chechen in Berlin who participated in the Moscow Metro Bombing in 2004 and sentenced to life. He was sentenced to Life in prison and the Germans claim the killing was ordered by the Russian Government.

Why a US Marine should rot in jail for 16 years to keep this guy in prison is beyond me. Krasikov didn't do anything to the USA.

Yancey Ward said...

This only encourages unfriendly foreign governments to arrest more Americans.

Temujin said...

Trump would have gotten Whelan out. And Griner as well. And months earlier.

That said, Joe Biden's decision-making ability is on display daily with his Cabinet selections and those working with the Cabinet members. This past week gave us new comments from Jennifer Granholm, and a nice display of racy insanity from Sam Britton. As a 'for instance'.

Biden's move to release Bout will mean more attacks on America, massive bloodshed coming up on the Mexican border and within Mexico, and instant increase in weaponry for Russia and any other terror groups or wars that need to be fed. In other words, thousands will die by letting Joe Biden make a decision the other day. Every day that goes by and Joe make another decision, is another day deeper in the shit for America and the rest of the world.

Two years to go.

hombre said...

"... the president faced opposition from the Justice Dept. ...."

Bwahahaha!!

Captain BillieBob said...

According to TASS from the end of 2019, the Russians were willing to trade up to 15 US agents sitting in Russian jails for Bout, but Biden traded a WNBA player for Bout. Another brilliant move by "never underestimate Joe's ability to fuck up".

Daniel12 said...

"Trump would have gotten Whelan out."

Oh ffs Whelan was locked up in 2018 when Trump was president and Russia wasn't in the middle of a war but sure whatevs

Jim at said...

Oh ffs Whelan was locked up in 2018 when Trump was president and Russia wasn't in the middle of a war but sure whatevs

For once, you're correct. He wouldn't have gotten him out. Know why?
Because not even Trump was stupid enough to release Bout. For anybody. Let alone a snarling, America-hating basketball player who broke their laws.

Biden fucked up. Big. Own it.
And choke on it.