Russia recently released WNBA star, Brittney Griner, from her Mordovian penal colony in exchange for convicted arms dealer Viktor Bout. After months of continuous negotiation between the U.S. and Russia, President Joe Biden’s administration finally secured a deal to free Griner. However, Biden reportedly faced resistance while striking up the swap deal that facilitated Griner’s release. Recent reports have suggested that many high-profile officials in the Justice Department were against the swap deal that ultimately released the WNBA star.

Meanwhile, former President Donald Trump questioned the decision to give up a convicted arms dealer to free Griner. He added that the transaction was one-sided and condemned not using former Marine Paul Whelan in the deal as well.

Some higher officials in the government were against exchanging Bout for Brittney Griner?

According to a recent Washington Post report, President Joe Biden “faced opposition from his own Justice Department, which viewed Thursday?s one-for-one prisoner swap involving Griner and the notorious arms dealer Viktor Bout as a mistake given the discrepancy of offenses by the two prisoners, officials familiar with the matter said.”

Viktor Bout was convicted in 2011 and subsequently sentenced to 25 years in federal prison. When the suggestions about giving up ?Merchant of Death? initially came out, many were against it. Many fans apparently felt that releasing a notorious arms dealer like Bout could come back and haunt the country. However, the government seemingly had no other choice but to release him in order to bring Brittney Griner back to the country.

Incidentally, Moscow dismissed Washington’s offer for a two-for-one deal involving Brittney Griner, ex-Marine Paul Whelan and Viktor Bout. Therefore, the Biden administration decided to proceed with a one-for-one deal involving only Brittney Griner. As per the aforementioned report, many high-ranking officials opposed the move.

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Meanwhile, Donald Trump espoused a similar sentiment on social media, ?What kind of a deal is it to swap Brittney Griner, a basketball player who openly hates our country for the man known as ?The Merchant of Death,? who is one of the biggest arms dealers anywhere in the World, and responsible for tens of thousands of deaths and horrific injuries.”

Paul Whelan left behind

Donald Trump also slammed the decision to leave behind Paul Whelan. For months, the U.S. State Department stated that they are looking to bring back both Griner and Whelan to the country with a prisoner swap deal. However, before Griner’s release, there were reports claiming Russia wants a one-for-one prisoner swap. When asked about it, officials declined to give more information about the negotiation.

Whelan was detained in 2018 and was sentenced to 16 years in prison in 2020. Multiple family members of the ex-Marine talked about the prisoner swap deal. His brother David Whelan stated that he is glad for Griner’s release. However, Whelan feared that his brother might have to survive another 12 years in the prison camp.

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The former Marine’s sister Elizabeth gave her thoughts about the whole situation as well. She stated that her brother could not be brought back home because of Russia.