'In the Shadows': Behind the high-stakes work to free Americans held captive abroad

Richardson Center Global Engagement's Mickey Bergman discusses his new book ‘In the Shadows’ and the work he's done to negotiate the release of Americans held hostage overseas on 'Special Report.'

Excerpted from "In the Shadows: True Stories of High-Stakes Negotiations to Free Americans Captured Abroad" by Mickey Bergman and Ellis Henican.

Jon Finer looked surprised.

"Vinnik?" he asked me. "Are you sure it’s Vinnik?"

That clearly wasn’t the name the White House deputy national security adviser was hearing from the official channel at the State Department. "The Russians want to trade Bout and Vinnik for Griner and Whelan?"

"I’m sure that’s what they said. They were the ones who brought it up."

Brittney Griner, who was detained at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport and later charged with illegal possession of cannabis, sits inside a defendant's cage during the reading of the court's verdict in Russia, Aug. 4, 2022. (Reuters/Evgenia Novozhenina/Pool)

That’s when Guv jumped in. "Why, Jon?" he asked. "Is that a good deal? Would you take that deal?"

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Guv is what I always called my boss and mentor, former New Mexico governor and United Nations representative Bill Richardson. In recent years, he had become best known for negotiating the release of Americans wrongly imprisoned abroad. I’d learned an enormous amount working with him. Now, we’d finally found a path forward in the frustrating case of WNBA superstar and two-time United States Olympic gold medalist Brittney Griner. 

Finer stiffened at Guv’s question. "Of course, I can’t speak on the president’s behalf, but…," he said. "This is very interesting, if true."

He just let