The White House’s claim that President Biden was not offered a 1 for 1 exchange between Marine Paul Whelan and Russia’s “Merchant of Death” Viktor Bout appears to be a lie according to a now altered NBC report and Russian media.
A senior government official reportedly told NBC news that Russia offered a 1 for 1 exchange between Whelan and Bout that was turned down by the Biden administration.
“A senior U.S. official told NBC News that the U.S. government had sought to have both Griner and Whelan released as part of a swap with the Kremlin, which wanted the return of Viktor Bout, a Russian arms dealer who has served 11 years of a 25-year sentence in the U.S. But the official said Russia has treated Whelan differently because he is an accused spy, and that the Kremlin gave the White House the choice of either Griner or Whelan — or none.”
The original NBC report, which has since been edited to mimic the White House’s apparently false claim, was also supported by Russian media.
“The edit is of course nonsense. Russian media is reporting today that Biden was given the option between Griner and Whelan and they chose Griner because she is a black lesbian, and Whelan is a white male who for all intents and purposes was/is an American hero for doing his job,” reported Ian Miles Cheong on Twitter.
The edit is of course nonsense. Russian media is reporting today that Biden was given the option between Griner and Whelan and they chose Griner because she is a black lesbian, and Whelan is a white male who for all intents and purposes was/is an American hero for doing his job. https://t.co/4EHepFhz0l
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) December 9, 2022
Follow me on Twitter @CollinRugg!
The original NBC report was also supported by Whelan’s Russian lawyer, Vladimir Zherebenkov, who said there was in fact a 1 for 1 swap option with Whelan but Griner was chosen instead because she is an “Olympic champion” and a “woman.”
“Whelan’s Russian lawyer, Vladimir Zherebenkov, also said that the deal was an exchange of ‘one to one,’ and that choosing Griner, 32, appeared ‘more humane’ because she is a woman and an Olympic champion, while Whelan was in the military and it is ‘easier for him to be in custody,’” NBC News reports.
The White House is claiming that the same 1 for 1 trade with Whelan was not offered despite multiple reports.
“For totally illegitimate reasons, Russia is treating Paul’s case differently,” Biden said.
Russian media says this claim is false. Editor-in-Chief Margarita Simonyan at RT told Russia-1 anchor Vladimir Solovyov that she was “very amused but not surprised that Bout was exchanged for Griner and not Whelan.”
“The first problem is that he is white,” Simonyan said. “His second problem is he is a man, his third problem is he is a heterosexual, that is something that cannot be forgiven today.”
Newsweek reports:
Simonyan believed that “American voters were given a choice,” in the exchange between “a hero who suffered while serving his fatherland,” or Griner who was “hooked on drugs.”
Simonyan concluded that the scenario was good news for Russia because it showed that the U.S. believed to it be “significantly more important to free a rightfully charged well-known athlete” than someone jailed “for serving his motherland.”
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