Blockbuster Trade Frees Basketballer for Russian Arms Dealer

SANDY HOSIER: American basketballer Brittney Griner has finally been released from a Russian Prison, surviving a gruelling 4 months of a 9-year sentence before being released as part of a US government prisoner trade hailed as a strategic win for US democrats. The two-time US Olympic gold medallist was detained in February on drug smuggling charges in Moscow.

Griner pled guilty to possessing almost 1 gram of cannabis oil, a Russian judge pouncing on the opportunity to impose the harshest penalty to acquire an important human bargaining chip. The democrats worked frantically to cut a deal, securing Griner’s release after just 4 months, or   cut a deal and released one of the 100 Russian nationals imprisoned in America in exchange for Griner, who was chosen ahead of 17 other Americans imprisoned in Russia, including former US marine Paul Whelan currently serving a 16 year sentence on false espionage charges since 2018. But Biden claimed nothing could be done other than securing the basketball star in exchange for Viktor Bout, a convicted weapons smuggler, internationally known as the Merchant of Death.

BRIAN SOCKINGTON: CNN did its best to keep the story positive, failing to mention Whelan’s former service as a US Marine in their article on Griner’s release. The 1965-word story was attributed to 15 different people as either writers or contributors. Must’ve been SOME kind of clerical error!