Tag Archives: Brittney Griner

Yahoo Sports reports: Brittney Griner is officially back with the Phoenix Mercury after signing a one-year, $165,100 deal to return to the court after her 10-month imprisonment in Russia, according to Richard Cohen of Her Hoop Stats. Griner was released from Russian prison on Dec. 8 as part of an exchange that saw the U.S. free convicted arms dealer Viktor …

CBS News reports: Brittney Griner, the American basketball star detained by Russian authorities in February, has safely returned to the US after being released from custody in a prisoner exchange. Griner stepped off the plane shortly after 5:30 a.m. ET Friday at Kelly Field in San Antonio, Texas. The Biden administration repeatedly made offers to get Paul Whelan released as …

The Guardian reports: Speaking at the White House, Joe Biden formally announced the release of Brittney Griner from detention in Russia, and pledged to continue working to bring home another American jailed in the country. “Moments ago, standing together with her wife Cherelle in the Oval Office, I spoke with Brittney Griner,” Biden said. “She’s safe, she’s on a plane, …

CBS News reports: Brittney Griner, the WNBA star who was held for months in Russian prisons on drug charges, was released Thursday in a one-for-one prisoner swap for international arms dealer Viktor Bout, according to a U.S. official. The one-for-one exchange agreement negotiated with Moscow in recent weeks was given final approval by President Biden within just the last week, according …

Reuters reports: The United States is still talking to Russia about a deal to free jailed Americans Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan but Moscow has not provided a “serious response” to any of its proposals, a senior U.S. diplomat said in comments published on Monday. Elizabeth Rood, the U.S. chargée d’affaires in Moscow, told Russia’s state-owned RIA news agency that …

Reuters reports: Russia said on Friday it hoped to clinch a prisoner swap with the United States to return convicted Russian arms trafficker Viktor Bout, known as the “Merchant of Death”, in an exchange that would likely include U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner. Amid the deadliest war in Europe since World War Two, Russia and the United States are exploring …

NBC News reports: A Russian court on Tuesday denied WNBA star Brittney Griner’s appeal and upheld her nine-year prison sentence on drug charges. Griner, 32, looked despondent as she appeared at the hearing in the Moscow Regional Court via video conference from the detention center where she has been held since her arrest in February. The athlete is now expected …

Axios reports: Russia confirmed for the first time on Thursday that it is negotiating with the U.S. regarding a possible prisoner swap deal that would secure the freedom of WNBA star Brittney Griner and former Marine Paul Whelan. Driving the news: The news comes after Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov confirmed last week that Russia was “ready to discuss” a …

Hill Reporter has the transcript: Let’s talk about Brittney Griner. I’m tired of everyone saying she’s a hostage and she’s a political prisoner and all this stuff. She’s been going to Russia since 2014, right? Playing basketball there, making a million dollars or whatever she makes. And she knows what the laws are in Russia. She’s got a vape with …

The Hill reports: President Biden on Friday said he’s “hopeful” about Brittney Griner’s situation after the WNBA star was sentenced to nine years in prison in Russia. “I’m hopeful. We’re working hard,” Biden told reporters when asked about Griner, who a day earlier was sentenced by a Russian judge on charges that she illegally brought drugs into the country. White …

NPR reports: A Russian court has found Brittney Griner guilty on drug smuggling and possession charges. The widely expected verdict comes after a monthlong trial and nearly six months after the basketball star was arrested at a Moscow-area airport with cannabis vape cartridges in her luggage. The judge sentenced Griner to nine years in prison. The trial’s outcome was not …

Reuters reports: A Russian prosecutor demanded U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner be sentenced to nine and a half years in prison on drugs charges at a trial that is expected to end in a verdict later on Thursday. Griner, a two-time Olympic gold medallist and a Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) star, was detained at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport on Feb. …

Mediaite has the transcript: She went in there loaded up with drugs into a hostile territory where they’re very vigilant about drugs. They don’t like drugs. And she got caught. And now we’re supposed to get her out — and she makes, you know, a lot of money, I guess. We’re supposed to get her out for an absolute killer …

ABC News reports: Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Friday that he’s open to a call with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to discuss a possible prisoner swap involving American basketball star Brittney Griner. Blinken said Wednesday that Washington had offered Russia a deal that would bring home Griner and another jailed American, Paul Whelan. A person familiar with …

The Guardian reports: The Biden administration has offered a deal to Russia aimed at bringing home WNBA star Brittney Griner and another jailed American, ex-US marine Paul Whelan, the secretary of state, Antony Blinken, said on Wednesday. In a sharp reversal of previous policy, Blinken also said he expects to speak with his Kremlin counterpart for the first time since …

ESPN reports: Detained WNBA star Brittney Griner pleaded guilty on Thursday to bringing hashish oil into Russia, telling a judge that she had done so “inadvertently” while asking the court for mercy. The move is not expected to end her trial in Khimki, Russia, anytime soon. Even with a guilty plea in Russian criminal courts, the judge will continue to …