How the Brittney Griner Prison Swap Almost Imploded — Until the White House Stopped ‘Ghosting on Families’

LATE ON TUESDAY morning, aboard Air Force One, President Joe Biden’s tie was loose and his blazer was off. In the conference room at the back of the plane, Rep. Greg Stanton of Arizona stood up and pressed for an urgent answer: When was Brittney Griner coming home? The Congressman had been advocating for the administration to prioritize the case of the wrongfully detained basketball star who played in his neighboring district, after months of what one person familiar with the Russian talks called “dilly-dallying” by a White House that had developed a habit of “ghosting on the families” of political prisoners. The president cut off the Congressman and looked him in the eyes.

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In early June, according to an administration official, the State Department made a secret offer: Griner and Whelan for the “the Merchant of Death” — two for one, a nonstarter with the Russians. “This is becoming more of a street fight,” says Rep. Haley Stevens of Michigan, who counts Whelan as a constituent and serves as chair of the Congressional hostage task force. “Diplomacy is a great tool, but we are not negotiating with rational actors.” 

Even members of Congress, trying to break an inherent communication dam from the White House, received half-answers. Rep. Stevens, the leader of the hostage task force, says she consistently informed Paul Whelan’s family to begin “managing expectations appropriately.” Stevens says she was briefed on Wednesday night about Griner and Whelan — but not told that Griner would be headed home alone.