State Department told Paul Whelan's family to 'make more noise' to win release from Russia

A U.S. State Department official told the family of Paul Whelan that they need to "make more noise," and "be a squeakier wheel" in advocating for the Michigan man's release from a Russian labor camp to get government action to bring him home, his brother said. 

"This is a hard message to hear. The family of a wrongful detainee shouldn't be bearing the burden of persuading American government officials to act to secure the release of an American citizen wrongfully detained," David Whelan wrote in an email message to the Free Press and other news outlets. 

"It's frustrating. What sort of circus does a family need to put on to make more noise, to squeak louder, to move the immovable levers of government?" 

U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens, a Democrat from Waterford, took to Twitter on Thursday to express her frustration when she learned of the Whelan family's conversation with State Department officials. 

"With all due respect, we have been working alongside the Whelan family for 4 years," she wrote. "Two unanimous House resolutions have been passed. Multiple heart wrenching press conferences. Countless radio, print and tv interviews. Hundreds of social media posts. Are we not 'loud' enough?"