Brittney Griner, Paul Whelan, Commerce Must ‘Step Over The Line’, Even At The Cost Of ‘Merchant Of Death’: Experts

According to experts, the United States must try to complete the exchange of detainees Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan after a difficult and lengthy process, even at the cost of exchanging a dangerous arms dealer to secure his release

“It’s a tortuous thing,” former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Joel Rubin told Fox News Digital. “So just getting to the point where he’s about to do it, don’t get too worked up about it. If you think you can get there and take people out, you take it.”

Griner, who pleaded guilty to drug charges on July 7, has been detained in Russia since February after Russian authorities said they found vape cartridges containing hashish oil in her luggage.

The guilty plea does not end the case, but some have suggested it could speed up the process along with Griner’s release from prison. He could be eligible for a prisoner swap between Moscow and Washington, DC, and last week the Biden administration offered a “substantial proposal” to “facilitate” the release of Griner and Whelan.

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One name mentioned is Viktor Bout, a Russian arms dealer known as the “Death Merchant”, who is serving a 25-year sentence in the US after being convicted of conspiring to kill US citizens and aiding an terrorist

WNBA star and two-time Olympic gold medalist Brittney Griner is escorted into a courtroom for a hearing, in Khimki, outside Moscow, Russia, on July 27, 2022.
(Evgenia Novozhenina/Pool Photo via AP)

Experts have warned about a deal that includes Bout about the potential consequences for American travelers, but an expert on detainee negotiations rejected those arguments.

“There is no historical evidence to support the claim that a no-concessions policy reduces kidnappings,” Mickey Bergman, vice president of the Richardson Center for Global Engagement, told Fox News Digital. “Arguments to the contrary are intellectually lazy and morally bankrupt: intellectually lazy, because the data show no correlation between how these cases are resolved and the number of cases that follow; morally bankrupt, because the government efforts to discourage and deter the taking of Americans. it cannot be done on the backs of those already incarcerated.”

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“‘Deals’ do not create or destroy deterrence,” he added. “The data shows that deterrence stems from the actions governments take after prisoners return.”

Rubin, who served in both the Bush and Obama administrations, described how the US can continue to track and monitor Bout after his release, finding ways to “mitigate future damage” if he returns to Russia.

Viktor Bout walks past temporary cells before a hearing in Bangkok on August 20, 2010.
(Christophe Archambault/AFP via Getty Images)

“If there’s a trial … we can track this guy and make sure he never goes back to his illicit ways, meaning he’ll continue to be punished,” Rubin explained, arguing that Bout would be “worried “. [to] back to business.”

“Don’t leave,” he continued. “There may be ways to mitigate any future damage.”

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Rubin called Griner’s imprisonment and trial a “horrific situation” that Russia has repeatedly exploited for propaganda. He acknowledged that Griner traveled to Russia despite U.S. warnings against it, which the State Department does “to avoid what we’re in now.”

“Basically, our number one duty is to take care of the American people, so here we are,” Rubin said. “Viktor Bout has served a long time, but he is a criminal, an arms dealer, and he has blood on his hands… and [he’s] great value to the Russians,” adding that Russia might call it a “symbolic coup” to gain his freedom.

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“At the same time, Russia is taking advantage of Brittney Griner, [her] celebrity in particular, to try to use it as a propaganda tool and embarrass the United States,” he explained. “But at the end of the day, it’s about taking care of our people.”