Rumors that Biden might trade the “death dealer” for Britney Greener intensified after the verdict.

On Thursday morning, a Russian court sentenced American basketball player Britney Griner to nine and a half years in prison on drug charges, reigniting speculation that the Biden administration could trade Russian supervillain Viktor Bout and possibly other high-value prisoners wanted by Moscow. In exchange for Griner’s freedom.

Biden management news The idea to replace Booth with Griner and a long-time imprisoned former US Marine, Paul Whelan, surfaced last week through unofficial channels. While the Kremlin has not officially confirmed that the proposal was made, the White House declined to ask if Bout was part of the proposal, saying only that President Joe Biden was directly involved in the development of the prisoner exchange proposal.

Criticism of the proposal was sudden and harsh, as Viktor Bout clearly belongs to the prison and remains one of the most dangerous criminals in the world. Among other objections, critics have asked Whelan why let it rot He’s been in a Russian prison ever since he was convicted on suspect “espionage” charges in 2018 but was suddenly included as a sweetener to make Biden Booth’s offer to Greener less ridiculous.

The White House appears to have modeled the Boot-Greener trade offer later. surprise for April 2022 secured the freedom of another former US Marine, Trevor Reid, in exchange for convicted Russian drug dealer Konstantin Yaroshenko.

Like Griner, Reid was sentenced to a ridiculously disproportionate nine-year sentence for a petty crime, during his trial, when he got drunk and assaulted a police officer. Biden mentioned Whelan as a potential prisoner swap in the future when explaining the Reed deal, prompting Whelan’s family to wonder why he wasn’t included in April.

Yaroshenko is a criminal, but Bout is bigger. Booth’s real adventures are actually more incredible than the movie based on his life, the 2005 Nicolas Cage movie.

Booth is nicknamed the “Merchant of Death”. brilliant arms dealer In his mid-50s in Russian military training. He became a billionaire in the early ’90s by raiding the arsenals of the collapsing Soviet Union and using ex-Soviet cargo vehicles to transport their weapons from the black market to conflict zones around the world.

Criminal mastermind Bout was recruited by all the international law enforcement who followed him. He was wise enough to confuse arms shipments with more legitimate shipments, disguised as a human who just wanted to sell cheap food to starving Africans. Meanwhile, he sells weapons to all the bad guys in al-Qaeda and Hezbollah, the Taliban and the Taliban. Moreover enemies in Afghanistan.

was Booth in bags While trying to sell weapons to Colombian terrorists, who were actually CIA agents in disguise, in Thailand in 2008. He didn’t just sell a few pistols to his bloodthirsty customers in the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). together “800 anti-aircraft missile systems (SAMs), 30,000 AK-47 guns, 10 million rounds of ammunition, five tons of S-4 plastic explosives, ultralight aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles equipped with grenade launchers.”

In this August 23, 2019 file photo, Paul Whelan, a former US Marine who was arrested on suspicion of espionage in Moscow on December 28, 2018, speaks while standing in a cage awaiting trial in Russia’s Moscow courtroom. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlyanichenko)

“As the evidence at the trial showed, Viktor Bout was willing to sell an arsenal of weapons that some smaller countries would be jealous of. He plans to sell these weapons to terrorists with the aim of killing Americans. “With today’s swift decision, justice has been served and a very dangerous man will be imprisoned,” he said.

US government accusations Against Bout, it included “a conspiracy to kill United States citizens, a conspiracy to kill U.S. officials and their employers, a conspiracy to obtain and use anti-aircraft missiles, and a conspiracy to provide financial support and resources to a foreign terrorist organization.” ”

National Security Council strategic communications coordinator John Kirby and White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre spoke to the media on Thursday after Britney Greener was convicted and convicted on drug charges in Russia. (Michael Reynolds/UPI)

Booth informed the undercover CIA agents who arrested him that he understood that his weapons would be used to kill Americans in Colombia.

“We have the same enemy,” he told FARC’s terrorist representatives, saying it has been at war with the United States for the past “ten to fifteen years”.

President Joe Biden speaks at the Eisenhower Administration Building in Washington DC on June 2, 2021. (Samuel Çorum/UPI)

Booth is now halfway through the 25-year sentence he served in 2011. requested His release during this period added to suspicions that he was not only a runaway arms dealer who made a fortune selling the discarded fangs and claws of the disintegrated Soviet Union, but also an active agent of Russian military intelligence.

This may seem politically inappropriate for Biden and his Democratic Party – which is why fiercely obsessed remove the “weapon of war” from the streets, decided to pump a theater gun control bill one after another – on the release of the world’s worst arms dealer, someone who sold “weapons of war” in good faith to terrorists and smoking swindlers.

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, Wednesday, June 8, 2022, in Los Angeles (via AP Mike Blake/Poole)

Trade critics also worry that Biden will announce the opening of America’s hostage season, which will cost too much for Griner’s return. Russian leader Vladimir Putin will have every reason to hire more Americans to use as bargaining chips.

In a world where a politically correct basketball player caught on drug dealing charges has won the world’s worst arms dealer, Russia’s hostage-taking industry will flourish so much that it’s likely to bring Bout here.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova attended the meeting of the foreign ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Tashkent, Uzbekistan on Friday, 29 July 2022. Ministry of Foreign Affairs. office (Press Service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia through the AP)

The Russians were determined to make the situation as awkward as possible. The Kremlin has spent the past week giving the impression that Foreign Minister Anthony Blinken is very bad. beg them Cabin mistakes for Griner.

Looks like the White House retreat From Booth’s deal last week but Griner’s decision brought him back to the table. Friday Flashed aforementioned Russia is “ready to join” the Griner stock market, and Biden’s State Department is “ready to follow up”.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov decided to slap Blinken and Biden a little harder, arrogantly warning them not to “use public diplomacy”.

“We are ready to discuss this issue, but within the channel that Presidents Putin and Biden have agreed,” Lavrov said, dismissing White House complaints that the Kremlin had waited too long to strike a deal.

The Russians said they were ready to begin discussing the swap only after Griner was convicted by a Russian court. Before this week’s sentence, they aforementioned they will only accept two-for-two exchanges where they are accepted two The Russians replace Griner and Whelan. The most likely sweetener Putin would want is Russian spy Vadim Krasikov, who is currently serving time in Germany for murder. Whether or not the Germans agree to free Krasnikov, it will be an absolute disgrace to the Biden White House.

Paul Whelan family expressed concern He said on Wednesday that Biden would remove him from the deal rather than comply with Moscow’s demands, and would likely agree to a direct trade from Bout for Griner.

“Whether because of Russian malice or the bad hand of the United States, Paul may fall behind again,” Whelan’s twin brother David wrote in a letter to reporters.

“There are reports that the Russian government is worried about the change of the proposal. This could mean they want additional concessions from the US government. Or it could mean that they are willing to make a lesser concession,” said David Whelan.