Evidence indicates Biden Admin prioritized WNBA's Griner over Marine Paul Whelan, despite claiming otherwise

On Thursday morning, the Biden Administration announced that WNBA player Brittney Griner had been freed from a Russian prison in exchange for Viktor Bout, a notorious Russian arms dealer who was known to western intelligence agencies as the “merchant of death.”

The seeming lopsided trade was made worse by the reality that American citizen Paul Whelan, who served in the U.S. Marine Corps, was left behind in Russia.

For several months, the Biden Administration had been publicly indicating their intent to try to secure the release of both Griner and Whelan in exchange for Mr. Bout, before announcing Thursday that they had secured Griner in a one to one exchange.

Did the Biden Administration choose Griner over Whelan?

Although Biden officials, and the president himself, have denied that was the case, several pieces of evidence seem to indicate that Griner was indeed prioritized over Whelan, and that Moscow allowed the Biden Administration to choose either individual for the one to one swap.

The corporate media, citing senior Biden Admin officials, have delivered clues about the prisoner swap options. NBC News, a known regurgitator of state propaganda, stealth edited its story about the decision to choose Brittany Griner over Paul Whelan. For reasons unknown, NBC News, citing a senior U.S. official, changed its entire narrative about the prisoner exchange.

The key paragraph in question from NBC’s story first read, before being stealth edited (it is available at archive.ph):

“A senior U.S. official told NBC News that the U.S. government had sought to have both Griner and Whelan released as part of a swap with the Kremlin, which wanted the return of Viktor Bout, a Russian arms dealer who has served 11 years of a 25-year sentence in the U.S. But the official said Russia has treated Whelan differently because he is an accused spy, and that the Kremlin gave the White House the choice of either Griner or Whelan — or none.”

The stealth edited current version reads:

“A senior U.S. official told NBC News that the U.S. government had sought to have both Griner and Whelan released as part of a swap with the Kremlin, which wanted the return of Viktor Bout, a Russian arms dealer who has served 11 years of a 25-year sentence in the U.S. But the official said Russia has treated Whelan differently because he is an accused spy, and that the Kremlin ultimately gave the White House the choice of either Griner or no one after different options were proposed.”

The NBC report also cites Whelan’s Russian lawyer:

“Whelan's Russian lawyer, Vladimir Zherebenkov, also said that the deal was an exchange of ‘one to one,’ and that choosing Griner, 32, appeared ‘more humane’ because she is a woman and an Olympic champion, while Whelan was in the military and it is ‘easier for him to be in custody.’”

Zherebenkov has previously said that Russia offered a 1 to 1 swap for Whelan in exchange for Bout prior to Griner’s detention. This offer was apparently rejected by U.S. officials.

Additionally, Whelan’s brother has indicated that just days ago, the former U.S. service member was being considered for a one to one swap.

It sure seems, at least according to initial reports, along with the testimonies Whelan’s lawyer and family, that the Biden Administration is not telling the truth about its deal with the Russians.