BREAKING: Paul Whelan’s Lawyer Drops Evidence Suggesting Biden Specifically Chose Griner Over Marine

According to U.S. Marine Paul Whelan’s lawyer, Vladimir Zherebenkov, the United States was previously offered a 1 for 1 exchange for the release of Whelan. Originally, Russia had offered to exchange Whelan for Russia’s “Merchant of Death,” Viktor Bout however the offer appears to have been rejected by U.S. officials.

NBC originally posted the following text but suspiciously edited the text shortly thereafter.

“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.”

NBC sneakily edited the text to read:

“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 ultimately gave the White House the choice of either Griner or no one after different options were proposed.”

The original wording can be read here.

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Zherebenkov, however, adds validity to the original report considering he has previously stated that Russia offered a 1 to 1 swap for Whelan in exchange for the “Merchant of Death.”

Zherebenkov also noted that Griner was chosen over Whelan 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.

.@MarniHughesTV will be speaking LIVE with Paul Whelans brother shortly on @NewsNation. She spoke with him just a few days ago and they talked about the potential of a one to one swap. As Marni shared on air just now – Whelan a U.S. marine sings the national anthem every morning.

— Kellie Meyer (@KellieMeyerNews) December 8, 2022

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