A White House official said President Joe Biden confirmed that the US is committed to helping Whelan and Griner, as well as other Americans detained abroad.
President Joe Biden called Elizabeth Whelan on Friday, white House Announced, the sister of a US Marine who has been imprisoned in Russia since 2018 for alleged espionage
Whelan’s sister had previously been ‘surprised’ and ‘crushed’ by the fact that Biden He didn’t call his family after calling the wife of WNBA star Brittany Griner, who has just pleaded guilty to a drug charge in Moscow.
Biden reaffirmed that the US remains committed to keeping Whelan and Griner as well as other Americans overseas.
A White House official said the government would continue to update Whelan’s family.
‘The US Government will continue to be in regular contact with Paul’s family, and with the families of other Americans, or with families held hostage or wrongfully detained overseas, to provide support and assistance and help them with the care of their loved ones. To keep updated on efforts to secure the release,’ the official said.
Updated after Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre declined to tell reporters whether Biden was planning to call relatives of the imprisoned Marines.
Jean-Pierre was asked about Elizabeth Whelan’s comments at her regular press briefing, and said administration officials were already in touch.
“The president is getting updated regularly,” he said.
Jean-Pierre insists ‘this is top of mind’ for Biden.
Paul Whelan’s sister complained earlier this week that President Joe Biden had not contacted her family about her brother’s detention in Russia.
white House On July 6, he issued a press statement in which he told the basketball player’s wife Cherrell Griner about a call with the vice president. Kamala HarrisAssured him that the government is doing everything to get him out of jail.
‘Still looking for the press release that says @POTUS spoke to someone in our family about #PaulWhelan who has been wrongfully detained for 3.5 years in #Russia, ‘ She wrote.
‘I am crushed. If he wants to talk about securing Paul’s release, he needs to talk to the Whalans! what should we think?!’ He added.
Feather CNNElizabeth Whelan clarified that she was not jealous of the attention that Griner, the Phoenix Mercury Center, was detaining her for two vape cartridges containing cannabis oil, which she brought in via Moscow airport.
Brittany Griner’s wife, Cherrell (pictured), has urged President Joe Biden to secure his release
Brittany Griner, 31, is being taken to the courtroom just before pleading guilty to drug charges
Paul Whelan, a former US Marine who was arrested for alleged espionage, hears the verdict in a courtroom at Moscow City Court in Moscow, Russia, June 15, 2020
Paul Whelan, in glasses, being taken to court for espionage trial in Moscow in October 2019
‘It’s really wonderful,’ she said. ‘They have far more resources than our family. Our concern is why some families have access and others do not. There are more than 55 families who want equal attention.
She was referring to the number of Americans she believes are currently held in Russian prisons and prisons.
Griner pleaded guilty to drug charges Thursday, telling the court that he had packed in a hurry and did not intend to break the law. He is behind bars for 10 years.
In contrast, Paul Whelan, arrested in December 2018 in a Moscow hotel and accused of spying on Russia for the US, was sentenced to 16 years of hard labor in a prison camp in the Republic of Mordovia .
The former soldier has repeatedly claimed his innocence but was convicted and sentenced in June 2020.
The Whelan family said the phone call with Cherrell Griner suggests the Biden administration is playing the favourite.
Former US Marine Trevor Reid was exchanged for convicted Russian drug dealer Konstantin Yaroshenko during a prisoner swap at a Turkish airport on Wednesday.
Paul Whelan’s twin brother, David Whelan, said: “I do not congratulate Griner and her supporters for their success in getting the president’s attention while he ignores many other families.” Detroit News,
“It suggests that the only way to get the attention of the White House under President Trump or President Biden is through celebrity and money and resources that most wrongful detainees don’t have,” he said.
Elizabeth Whelan said it should be.
Elizabeth Whelan said she wants a ‘more coordinated’ and ‘constructive’ approach from the Biden administration in trying to get her brother home from Russia, where he is in prison
“I was amazed to hear about this call and it took me by surprise,” she said. ‘Should we insist for a meeting with the President? Is it to bring my brother home? What I really want to see is a working process that was not needed.’
The Whelan family has been vocal in their criticism of the Biden administration’s handling of Americans imprisoned overseas.
In April, Trevor Reid, another former Marine arrested in Moscow, was released in a prisoner swap with Konstantin Yaroshenko, who was convicted of drug trafficking in the US.
“I think what we’re really concerned about is the lack of a coordinated effort to bring Paul and the other misdemeanor detainees home,” Elizabeth Whelan said in June.
‘Furthermore, trade is not the only tool the US government can use.
‘And I’m really concerned that everyone has backed themselves into corners about a trade or not a trade.
‘Meanwhile, Paul is rotting in a Russian Gulag waiting for someone to solve it.’