Paul Whelan’s sister speaks out against critics of Brittney Griner swap
Mike Brest
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Paul Whelan’s sister, Elizabeth Whelan, spoke out Wednesday against critics of President Joe Biden’s prisoner exchange to secure Brittney Griner’s release from Russian detention.
“I was devastated when Brittney came back without Paul to see the hateful comments being made, to see Paul’s name being used against the opposing party or against the administration without actually offering any solution for the problem, without really acknowledging that this was Putin, that he had set up the problem,” she said at an Atlantic Council event. “The problem being that the only offer that was available was for Brittney, there wasn’t an available offer for Paul, and yet people were very willing to grab a hold of this issue and use it for their own needs.”
“We saw all of these tweets for people who are so upset Paul was left behind, and none of those people have reached out to us, the family. I don’t think any of them have contributed any new thinking,” she explained, urging those who were critical of Biden’s decisions to come up with their own hostage diplomacy solutions.
FOUR YEARS LATER, BROTHER SPEAKS OUT ON PAUL WHELAN’S IMPRISONMENT IN RUSSIA
The Biden administration considers Whelan, who was given a 16-year prison sentence in 2020 on a spurious espionage charge, wrongfully detained and has accused the Kremlin of using him as a bargaining chip. In December, Biden agreed to swap Griner, who had been wrongfully detained for nearly a year following drug charges, for Viktor Bout, a convicted arms dealer.
At the time, the president made the decision to go ahead with the swap, which officials said was the only deal available to them. Many on Capitol Hill and officials from the previous administration were critical of his choice — specifically leaving Whelan behind again. The president agreed to a swap months earlier that resulted in the return of Trevor Reed, another American who was considered wrongfully detained in Russia.
Whelan was arrested in late 2018 while in Russia for a wedding, while the Federal Security Service said at the time he was allegedly caught “while on a spy mission,” allegations that he, his family, and the U.S. government have denounced as false. He was sentenced to 16 years in prison in June 2020.
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The Biden administration reiterated at the time of the fourth anniversary of Whelan’s detention that his return remains a priority and that it continues to engage with the Kremlin about securing his release despite the Russians’ decision to treat him as a higher value prisoner.
A State Department spokesperson told the Washington Examiner at the time that they “continue to press for the immediate release of Paul Whelan at every opportunity” and that “despite their best efforts, the Russian government has failed to negotiate in good faith on his case,” and “Paul and his family continue to suffer the consequences of the Russian government’s decision to wrongfully detain U.S. citizens.”
Elizabeth Whelan affirmed that she believes the U.S. government is “energized for Paul” and that “I really do feel that people feel very strongly, passionately, and committed; they have [committed] to get him home.”