Bringing Brittney Griner home
Post Reports
The Washington Post
4.4 • 5.1K Ratings
🗓️ 8 December 2022
⏱️ 22 minutes
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Summary
Today, the White House announced that WNBA star Brittney Griner has been released from Russian detention and is coming home – in exchange for a notorious arms dealer. We talk about why this deal happened now, and what it means for other American hostages.
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More than nine months after she was arrested in Russia, WNBA star Brittney Griner has been freed. Griner is one of the world’s best women’s basketball players. She’s been in Russian custody since February, when authorities detained her at the airport and accused her of carrying vape cartridges containing cannabis oil, which is illegal in Russia. Like many women’s basketball players, Grinersupplements her income by playing overseas during the WNBA offseason (Griner’s arrest brought attention to pay inequality.)
Moscow released the athlete in exchange for convicted Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout. Known as the “merchant of death,” the infamous criminal is a top prize for Russian officials.
For Biden, this is a victory - but it’s a bittersweet one. Another American, former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, was initially supposed to be a part of this swap, but Russia refused to let him go.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | She's safe, she's on a plane, she's on her way home. |
| 0:06.8 | After months being unjustly detained in Russia, held under untol the wrong circumstances. |
| 0:12.2 | Britney will soon be back in the arms of her loved ones and she should have been there |
| 0:16.7 | all along. |
| 0:18.8 | Finally, Britney Griner is free. |
| 0:22.1 | More than nine months after the WNBA star was arrested in Russia, the White House announced |
| 0:26.9 | this morning that they were able to negotiate for her release as part of a prisoner swap. |
| 0:32.2 | Griner's wife, Sherelle, was there for that announcement. |
| 0:35.4 | So for the last nine months, you all have been so privy to one of the darkest moments of |
| 0:41.8 | my life. |
| 0:42.8 | And so today, I'm just standing here, overwhelmed with emotions, but the most important emotion |
| 0:48.4 | that I have right now is just sincere gratitude for President Biden and his entire administration. |
| 0:57.4 | This is a joyful day for so many people who were terrified about what the future would hold |
| 1:02.9 | for one of the world's most famous basketball players. |
| 1:06.5 | But it's also a complicated moment because this deal at the U.S. made, it could have big |
| 1:12.7 | consequences for the future. |
| 1:16.0 | From the newsroom of the Washington Post, this is Post Reports. |
| 1:19.0 | I'm Martin Powers. |
| 1:20.8 | It's Thursday, December 8th. |
| 1:22.8 | Today, I'm talking with National Security Reporter Shane Harris to take us behind the |
| 1:27.3 | scenes of how the U.S. negotiated Griner's release. |
| 1:30.6 | We'll hear about the notorious arms dealer that she was traded for and how this prisoner's |
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