Former U.S. intel officer Rebekah Koffler provides analysis on the Russian courts’ decision to sentence WNBA player Brittney Griner to 9 years in prison on ‘Fox & Friends Weekend.’ President Joe Biden recently stated that his administration will "pursue every possible avenue" to bring U.S.
citizens Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan home to the United States. Griner, a women’s basketball star, was sentenced last week by a Russian court to nine years in prison for marijuana possession, a crime in Russia for which she had pleaded guilty.
Whelan is serving a 16-year jail term in Russia on espionage charges, accused of receiving and possessing classified information on a USB drive.
Secretary of State Anthony Blinken confirmed on Friday that the United States put forward a "substantial proposal" to Putin’s regime for a prisoner exchange, which reportedly would entail releasing Viktor Bout, a dangerous Russian arms trafficker, back to Russia in exchange for Griner and Whelan.