Breaking: Biden Trades “Merchant Of Death” To Russia For Brittney Griner

Breaking story: President Joe Biden held a press release today concerning a trade deal with Russia. Viktor Bout, a Russian arms dealer known as both “Merchant of Death” and “Lord of War,” was traded for the American basketball player Brittney Griner.

Bout was serving a 25-year sentence in a U.S. prison after being convicted in 2011 of conspiracy to kill Americans, deliver anti-aircraft missiles, and aiding a terrorist organization. He was taken in 2008 in a sting operation at a luxury hotel in Bangkok, Thailand, where he met with Drug Enforcement Administration informants posing as officials with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, which U.S. officials have classified as a narco-terrorist group.

Griner was arrested in February before the start of the Russia and Ukraine war for bringing in vape cartridges containing oils derived from cannabis through a Moscow airport to play for a basketball league in Russia.
The Biden administration initially negotiated for both WNBA star Brittney Griner and retired U.S. Marine veteran Paul Whelan, but today’s announcement did not include the former Marine. Whelan was sentenced to 16 years in prison in 2020 on espionage charges, but he and his family have maintained his innocence, while the U.S. government has called the charges false.