After Joe Biden was unable to fully release WNBA star Britney Greener from his Russian cell, the Biden administration allowed former NBA player Dennis Rodman to go to Russia and try to secure his release.
“I have permission to go to Russia to help this woman,” Rodman told NBC News. “I’ll try to go this week.”
“That Girl” stars WNBA star Brittney Greener, who was sentenced to 9.5 years in prison after being arrested on drug possession charges at a Moscow airport.
National Women’s Basketball Association (WNBA) basketball player Brittney Griner, who was detained at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport and later charged with illegal marijuana possession, holds a photo of her pre-trial team in Khimki standing on the docks. Near Moscow, August 4, 2022. (Getty Images via EVGENIA NOVOZHENINA/POOL/AFP)
While Griner’s conviction is mundane by Russian standards, a minor conviction for drug possession, many Americans find it violent.
Rodman tried to position himself as a kind of unofficial ambassador to dictatorships like North Korea and Russia. He has visited North Korea several times and also praised Russian leader Vladimir Putin as “really cool”. Rodman even said in 2018 that the Trump White House thanked him for helping to ease tensions between North Korea and the United States.
Former American NBA basketball player Dennis Rodman (centre) speaks to the media on his way to Beijing International Airport on December 19, 2013. Rodman is visiting North Korea from December 19-23. (WANG ZHAO/AFP, Getty Images)
The Biden White House is reportedly working on a prisoner swap deal with Russia to free Griner.
A source close to the White House told the Associated Press that the US offered the Kremlin a convicted Russian arms dealer, Viktor Bout, in exchange for Griner and jailed security chief Paul Whelan. In April, the United States successfully traded convicted Russian pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko for imprisoned Marine Corps veteran Trevor Reed.
Agreements between the White House and the Kremlin had been negotiated since July, but Griner’s release was unsuccessful.
Source: Breitbart
