Brittney Griner

The letter is an escalation of a pressure campaign by the WNBA star's supporters that comes as her trial proceeds in a court outside of Moscow.

… Four months is too long for this to have gone on, and I hope the president acts on her pleas to come home.” She deserves to see the United States is doing something for her, so she can find the strength as this show trial goes on. “After speaking with her wife last week, I am deeply concerned for Brittney Griner’s physical, mental and spiritual well-being,” Sharpton said in a statement. After being able to speak with Griner in the courtroom, Rood said, “She is doing as well as expected under these difficult circumstances.” In early May, the State Department declared Griner’s case a “wrongful detainment,” an official classification that elevated it to the office of the U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs. I try to put myself in her shoes, and I’d want somebody fighting for me — people who won’t shut up.” Asked for comment on Griner’s letter to Biden, Adrienne Watson, spokeswoman for the National Security Council, told The Washington Post: “[Biden’s] team is in regular contact with Brittney’s family and we will continue to work to support her family. “Whatever that is.” Her trial began Friday and is expected to continue Thursday; Griner has yet to enter a plea. This letter is going to make them pay attention.” But U.S. officials have not commented on the likelihood of such a swap. In April, U.S. officials secured the release of former Marine Trevor Reed from Russia through a prisoner swap.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was asked repeatedly about the detained WNBA star on Tuesday during the regular briefing.

Griner has been able to have sporadic communications with family, friends and WNBA players through an email account her agent set up. Griner’s supporters have encouraged a prisoner swap like the one in April that brought home Marine veteran Trevor Reed in exchange for a Russian pilot convicted of drug trafficking conspiracy. “It hurts thinking about how I usually celebrate this day because freedom means something completely different to me this year.” “That means she truly is terrified that she may never see us again. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was asked repeatedly about Griner on Tuesday during the regular briefing. However Griner’s wife, Cherelle, said Tuesday on a morning talk show that she hadn’t heard from Biden.

American WNBA star Brittney Griner wrote a letter to President Joe Biden from a Russian jail cell pleading for the United States to take action Tuesday.

The U.S. classified her as wrongly detained in April and said Russia is using her as a political pawn. Griner’s agent said likely her only way home is the U.S. negotiating on her behalf. It has not said the statement is connected to Griner’s case.

US President Joe Biden has read a letter from WNBA star Brittney Griner, who has been detained in Russia for more than four months, according to the White ...

"That means she truly is terrified that she may never see us again. "It is a deeply personal letter. - She said the US President would "do everything that he can in his power to to bring her home"

In her letter, Brittney Griner reminds Biden about her father who served in Vietnam war and says she misses her wife and family.

I miss my teammates! I miss my family! “I miss my wife!

A handwritten letter from Brittney Griner was delivered to the White House on the Fourth of July.

"I realize you are dealing with so much," she wrote, "But please don't forget about me and the other American detainees. In her personal plea, Griner urged Mr. Biden to free all U.S. captives. "I believe in you. I still have so much good to do with my freedom that you can help restore," she wrote. Griner, whose trial began last week, was arrested at a Moscow airport in February after Russia claimed she had cannabis oil in her luggage. In her letter, the imprisoned WNBA star pleaded with the president not to forget her, and said her already deep appreciation for Independence Day has taken on new meaning this year.

Mercury coach Vanessa Nygaard is not pleased with how the star player's detainment in Russia has been handled.

It’s a statement about the value of a gay person. It’s a statement about the value of a black person. And that’s a statement about our society and who we value and we need to change that.” Griner’s agent, Lindsay Kagawa Colas of Wasserman, tweeted after the extension, “The fact remains that the U.S. Government has determined that Brittney Griner is wrongfully detained and being used as a political pawn.” Nygaard has spoken out about the handling of Griner’s case before. Nygaard said, according to Casey L. Moor of USA TODAY. “It’s a statement about the value of women.

Detained in Russia, the WNBA star sent a letter to Biden saying she's 'terrified' she might be there forever.

I miss my teammates! I miss my family! White House officials confirmed Tuesday Biden has read Griner's handwritten letter, and that the President will do everything in his power to get Griner and other detainees home. I miss my wife! Griner was detained at Sheremetyevo International Airport on Feb. 17 after the Russian Federal Customs Service claimed to have found vape cartridges containing the marijuana concentrate hashish oil in Griner's luggage. I'm sure she is like 'I'm going to write him and ask now because my family has tried to no avail, so I'm going to do it myself,'" Cherelle said.

Griner, a two-time Olympic gold medalist and six-time WNBA all-star who plays on a Russian team during the off season, was arrested four months ago at Moscow's ...

But both Bout and Griner up the stakes in ways that could complicate a deal. In fact, she thought the sentence “was too high at the time.” Bout was convicted of conspiring to sell arms to the FARC, the Colombian guerilla group that the U.S. had designated as a terrorist organization. The makings of a trade are here and plausible. Ultimately, it will be Biden and Putin who determine the fates of these unlikely hostage prisoners—the American women’s basketball star and the Russian merchant of death. In 2008, Bout was arrested in Thailand for arranging to sell millions of dollars’ worth of weapons to undercover agents from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, who were pretending to be members of FARC. Thai authorities agreed to extradite him to the U.S. for trial. However, Bout himself “was not a terrorist in my opinion,” Scheindlin said—”he was a businessman.” But under U.S. law, 25 years was the minimum sentence for someone convicted of selling arms to terrorists, so she had no choice. It’s not out of the question. Some doubt whether she would have been arrested if not for the hostile tensions between Washington and Moscow. Russian President Vladimir Putin may also see the case as an opportunity to spotlight his crusade against drugs and homosexuality, which he sees as Western scourges. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has since said the U.S. government has “no higher priority” than to bring Griner home. Tuesday morning, I emailed Scheindlin—who is now retired from the bench, working as a private litigator and arbitrator—and asked whether (1) the Times article accurately captured her views and (2) she has recently discussed the case with any U.S. officials. However, the last few paragraphs of a long story about Griner’s plight in Sunday’s New York Times suggest that an exchange wouldn’t be so improper or improbable after all. Griner, a two-time Olympic gold medalist and six-time WNBA all-star who plays on a Russian team during the off season, was arrested four months ago at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport for carrying vape cartridges and hashish oil in her luggage.

In a handwritten letter from Brittney Griner that was delivered to the White House, Griner wrote about how terrified she is.

"Initially I was told, you know, we are going to try to reserve, we're going to try to handle this behind scenes and let's not raise her value and you know stay quiet. It was very very hard to hear that charge." I'm sure she is like 'I'm going to write him and ask now because my family has tried to no avail, so I'm going to do it myself,'" said Cherelle. But I promise I'm not insane, not yet' she said. You know, I share those same sentiments," Cherelle said. That means she truly is terrified that she may never see us again.

President Joe Biden is expected to respond to WNBA star Brittney Griner as soon as Wednesday following her handwritten letter pleading for his help with ...

Jean-Pierre declined to say whether the president would accept a prisoner swap as part of a deal for her freedom. One senior administration official said the U.S. doesn’t expect a resolution for Griner before her trial plays out, which is likely to take weeks. Biden has been under increasing pressure to demonstrate progress toward her release as she faces a trial for drug smuggling charges.

US president Joe Biden spoke Wednesday with the wife of detained WNBA player Brittney Griner, who is on trial in Russia, and assured her that that he is ...

“He also read her a draft of the letter the President is sending to Brittney Griner today.” The trial is scheduled to resume Thursday. Biden’s conversation with Griner’s wife, Cherelle Griner, followed Brittney Griner’s personal appeal to the president in a handwritten letter from the basketball player the White House received on Monday. In the letter, Griner acknowledged her fears that she would spend forever in detention in Russia and asked Biden not “forget about me and the other American Detainees”.

Griner recently penned a letter to President Biden asking him to help her and other American detainees in Russia.

Because being quiet, they are not moving.” Driving the news: “I will not be quiet anymore,” she told CBS. “I will find that balance of harm versus help in pushing our government to do everything that’s possible. Because being quiet, they are not moving.”

President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris spoke by phone Wednesday with Cherelle Griner, the wife of WNBA star Brittney Griner, who is detained ...

There has been growing frustration among the families of those of wrongful detainees abroad who feel that the Biden administration is not doing enough to secure their loved ones' releases. He did not promise a meeting with Biden, but sought to assure them that the administration is making every effort to bring their loved ones home. He also read her a draft of the letter the President is sending to Brittney Griner today," the White House said. She went on trial in a court near Moscow on Friday on drug smuggling charges. I miss my family! I miss my wife!

The president "offered his support to Cherelle and Brittney's family, and he committed to ensuring they are provided with all possible assistance."

I voted for the first time in 2020 and I voted for you. In her letter, she called on Biden to get her and others who are detained in Russia home. "He also read her a draft of the letter the President is sending to Brittney Griner today."

President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris told Cherelle Griner they would pursue “every avenue” to bring her wife, Brittney Griner, home from Russia.

Experts said Brittney Griner’s trial was likely to end in a conviction. There’s no presumption of innocence, really.” The women have been able to communicate with each other only through letters. “There’s a bias mainly because the Russian judicial system says they really should not go to trial unless the defendant is going to be convicted,” said William Pomeranz, the acting director of the Kennan Institute and an expert on Russian law. On Tuesday, Cherelle Griner appeared on “CBS Mornings” and spoke about her disappointment that Brittney Griner’s family had not received a reply to Brittney Griner’s letter from the president. On Wednesday, President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris spoke with Cherelle Griner, the wife of the W.N.B.A. star Brittney Griner, according to statement released by the White House. Brittney Griner has been detained in Russia on drug charges since February.

The White House said President Biden and Vice President Harris spoke with Cherelle Griner on Wednesday, as more of the WNBA star's supporters publicly ...

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As US basketball player Brittney Griner stands trial in Russia accused of drug smuggling, a growing number of other foreign nationals are also imprisoned in ...

Reed was sentenced to nine years in prison for endangering the “life and health” of Russian police officers, a charge which he and US officials denied. In Griner’s case, her status as a high-profile athlete could make her a particularly valuable political pawn that the US is keen to repatriate. According to Noble, it is unclear whether Russian authorities intend to increase detentions of foreign nationals for political ends, but many may now fear a hostile welcome if they should travel there. “A person could be sitting on remand for a very long time, while the investigator could be in no hurry to actually investigate,” says Natalia Prilutskaya, Amnesty International’s researcher for Russia. At the end of this ordeal, there is little hope of a fair trial. Even though they are legally supposed to spend a maximum of two months on remand under Russian law, extensions are often granted.

Griner is in the middle of a trial in Russia after being arrested in February on charges of possessing cannabis oil. Her trial is set to resume on Thursday.

The trial is scheduled to resume Thursday. Her trial is set to resume on Thursday. Griner is in the middle of a trial in Russia after being arrested in February on charges of possessing cannabis oil.

President reassures Cherelle Griner that they are working to secure the release of her wife from Russia.

The trial began last Friday and is set to resume Thursday. The WNBA star and two-time Olympic gold medalist for Team USA, who had been playing for the Russian basketball club UMMC Ekaterinburg during the WNBA’s offseason, is facing a drug transportation charge that could lead to a maximum 10-year sentence if convicted. A statement said that during the call with Cherelle Griner, the president “offered his support to Cherelle and Brittney’s family, and he committed to ensuring they are provided with all possible assistance while his administration pursues every avenue to bring Brittney home.”

The WNBA athlete sent a letter to Biden last week imploring White House action on her Russian detainment.

Biden’s conversation with Cherelle Griner follows a concerted push from the Griner family to escalate the two-time Olympic gold medalist’s detention. “And respectfully, we’re over 140 days at this point. Biden and Harris speak to the wife of Brittney Griner

Welcome to POLITICO's West Wing Playbook, your guide to the people and power centers in the Biden administration. With help from Allie Bice.

A White House spokesperson said they’d check and asked for time to talk to some of the people involved. Send us your best on the presidents with a citation and we may feature it. The attorney has reached out to a number of people in Griner’s camp, including her agent, but he said he has not received responses. FIRST IN WEST WING PLAYBOOK: Not everyone was pleased with the White House’s statement today about its call with Griner’s wife. At 3:11 p.m., The Wall Street Journal published a story including a prepared statement from Chief RON KLAIN. This isn’t the first time the White House has done something like this to reporters. Before the White House, she was briefings director for the Biden campaign. Bout’s lawyer, STEVE ZISSOU, said he has been encouraged by increasing calls he’s getting from reporters as Griner’s case has gotten more attention, and has been pleased by some of the high-profile advocates calling for a prisoner swap. REPORTERS BEWARE: Alex got wind of Bedingfield’s departure early and called the White House at 2:53 p.m. to ask for comment about it. Still, the Richardson team has been credited with playing a role in the release of Reed earlier this year. The Biden administration has looked at Richardson with some annoyance, viewing the freelance diplomatic efforts as a bit of a publicity stunt and an occasional complication with official efforts. Whereas those efforts were unsuccessful, a former U.S. official familiar with the issue said the Russians now have more leverage. But they did not start working with the family until April, when Griner’s team began a more public effort to get her released.