During Thursday’s White House press briefing, Fox News’ White House correspondent Peter Doocy confronted press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre about Russia getting a “better deal” in the prisoner swap that led to the release of WNBA star Brittney Griner.
President Joe Biden’s administration agreed to release notorious arms dealer Viktor Bout in exchange for Griner’s release from her nine year sentence in a Russian penal colony, after she was arrested in February for attempting to leave the country with marijuana.
“Why did Russia get such a better deal?” he asked bluntly.
“I’ve talked about this and I’ll say this again, here were our choices. Our choices [were] Brittney or no one at all. Bringing home one American or no American at all,” the press secretary said.
“In bringing home a professional athlete, we gave up a prolific arms dealer who was convicted of trying to kill Americans who’s called the ‘Merchant of Death,’” he said.
“The professional athlete is also an American citizen, so let’s not forget that who deserved, and I’ve explained how the Russians have illegally treated, totally illegitimately, treated his situation,” she said. “I’ve been very clear on that, we’ve laid that out for you and again, the president felt that this was an opportunity to bring Brittney home. He is going to do everything he can to bring Paul Whelan home just like he did with Trevor Reed. Just like he was able to secure Trevor Reed’s release.”
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Doocy then brought up Biden’s previous remarks, claiming he would not call Russian President Vladimir Putin until he is interested in ending the war in Ukraine. The press secretary touted the administration’s ability to return Griner, vowing to bring home Paul Whelan, who was imprisoned in 2020 on spying charges.
“How can you say he’s going to do everything he can if he said just a few days ago he’s not going to call Vladimir Putin until further notice?” Doocy continued.
“We were able to do this through different channels, right? We were able to do this through different avenues, folks from the U.S. government, that were able to make that negotiation, have those conversations and secure Brittany’s return. We have been able to do this and the president has been committed to getting this done.”
Russia was reportedly dissatisfied with the trade, criticizing the U.S. for disclosing so much information about the negotiations. A Russian foreign ministry spokesperson said that the two countries are undergoing “quiet diplomacy” following the disclosure of the negotiations.
Doocy then asked the press secretary about a previous question posed by his colleague, Fox News White House correspondent Jacqui Heinrich, about whether or not Twitter and the Biden campaign communicated to suppress the Hunter Biden laptop story before the 2020 election. In response, Jean-Pierre dodged the question, as she had done on Wednesday.
“You said a few times you really can’t talk about communications between the Biden campaign and Twitter, who is telling you that that’s off limits?” Doocy asked.
“I had that conversation with your colleague I believe yesterday,” the press secretary replied. “I’ve already addressed this multiple times this week so I don’t have anything more to add. Again, we’ve litigated this all week, don’t have anything to add.”
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