White House says release of Brittney Griner is 'priority' for Biden

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During the White House briefing on Tuesday, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre took several questions about basketball star Brittney Griner, who has been detained by authorities in Russia for nearly five months. Jean-Pierre said President Biden read a letter that Griner wrote to him, and said obtaining her release is a “priority” for Biden.

Video Transcript

- Can you talk about the status of the letter that Brittney Griner sent to the President? Has he been briefed on it? Has he even read it? Griner's wife was on television this morning. She really wants to hear from the President. Will he reach out to her in any fashion?

KARINE JEAN-PIERRE: So I can say that the President did read the letter. I was there when he read the letter. This is something-- Brittney Griner being held in Moscow-- we believe the Federation is wrongfully-- she's being wrongfully detained in Moscow at this time.

This is an issue that is a priority for this President. As you have heard us say before, he believes that any US national that is held abroad or detained or held hostage abroad, we need to bring back safely. And we are going to use every tool that we possibly can to make that happen.

Again, this is a priority for the President. I do want to share that on Saturday, Mrs. Griner spoke with national security advisor Jake Sullivan. That is their second call in the past about 10 days that they have spoken. Secretary Blinken also spoke with Mrs. Griner as well recently.

I don't have anything else to read out as far as a potential call or meeting with her family. But clearly, we believe she is wrongfully detained. We believe she needs to come home. She should be home-- as well as Paul Whelan as well, who's being held, and any other US national who is being wrongfully detained abroad. OK.

- Just to follow up on that, Griner's coach said, if this was LeBron, she would be home, right? It's a statement about the value of women. It's a statement about a Black person, a statement about the value of a gay person-- all of those things we know is true. Do you see this as a double standard?

KARINE JEAN-PIERRE: This is a president who has put all of the things that you just laid out-- the LGBTQ community, women, people of color-- he has fought for those communities throughout his career. And you have seen that in policies that he has put forward.

Again, this is a priority for this president. He is doing everything that he can. The White House is closely coordinating as well with the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs, who has met with Brittney's family, her teammates, and her support network. So we are going to continue to have those conversations. And we're going to make sure that she and others get home safely.

- And just to follow up, since this is a priority for the President, I mean, she's been detained for months now. Her wife told CBS this morning that she still has not heard from Biden, and honestly, it's very disheartening. I know it's a priority, but why has it taken this long, and why has it taken a letter from Griner in jail to reach the President to make this a priority?

KARINE JEAN-PIERRE: This has been on top of mind for the President. Like, I was there when he read the letter. And he takes this to heart. He takes this job very seriously, especially when it comes to bringing home US nationals who are wrongfully detained.

And you saw the work that his administration did to bring home Trevor Reed. That is the same work, the same focus that we did and put behind bringing Trevor Reed home. We're going to do the same with Brittney Griner and others.

So again, this is a priority. We're going to make this happen. We've had-- we have been in constant communications-- Secretary Blinken, the special envoy, as I just listed out, and also Jake Sullivan, our national security advisor.

We're going to continue to have those conversations, and we're going to continue to make sure we use everything at our disposal to bring her home, and also Paul Whelan, and all the others US nationals that are abroad.