'The View' co-host admits Griner trade wasn't 'equal swap' for US
Farah Griffin said arms dealer Viktor Bout would be a 'boon' to Russia in the war against Ukraine
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"The View" co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin said Thursday that trading Brittney Griner for arms dealer Viktor Bout, known as the "Merchant of Death," was not an "equal swap."
Farah Griffin said the Griner news was incredible and that her wife, Cherelle Griner, was "instrumental" in keeping attention on her case.
"It’s good news any time an American comes home from being wrongly detained abroad. Thank you for mentioning Paul Whelan. Because he’s been there since 2018, former Marine Corps, and served our country, and it’s a tragic case. The one thing I want to highlight here, I think this is a good thing, we should celebrate it, but it’s not an equal swap," she said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}She also argued Bout would be a "boon" in Vladimir Putin's war against Ukraine.
Alyssa Farah Griffin discusses Britney Griner's release on "The View." (Screenshot/ABC/TheView)
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"This is a man who was plotting and conspiring against Americans to kill them. He’s called the merchant of death because he’s basically been somebody who goes around the world and collects weaponry and brings it back to Russia. He will be a boon in the effort against Ukraine and it's a big domestic one for Putin right now when he’s at kind of the weakest place he’s been in decades. So that’s the thing that gives me pause here," she added.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Co-host Sunny Hostin asked if Farah Griffin was "okay with prisoner swaps" while admitting she was always "conflicted" about such trades.
"I’m not quite in the George Bush never negotiate with terrorists because sometimes you have to, but you have to make sure that there’s – it doesn’t pose too much of a risk to the homeland. I fear that this is somebody who is going to some day have the blood of Ukrainians or Americans on his hands," she said.
Co-host Sara Haines that this becomes a "currency" when Americans travel abroad.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}WNBA star and two-time Olympic gold medalist Brittney Griner is escorted from a court room ater a hearing, in Khimki just outside Moscow, Russia, Aug. 4, 2022. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, File)
WHO IS VIKTOR BOUT, RUSSIA'S ‘MERCHANT OF DEATH’ FREED IN PRISONER SWAP FOR BRITTNEY GRINER?
"And people, not just athletes, need to be aware. In no universe did the punishment fit the crime in this instance, but it immediately gave them a pawn," she said.
The exchange left U.S. Marine Paul Whelan behind in Russia.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}President Joe Biden gestures boarding Air Force One at Nantucket Memorial Airport in Nantucket, Mass., Sunday, Nov. 27, 2022. Biden is heading back to Washington after spending the Thanksgiving Day holiday in Nantucket with family. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
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Whelan has been in prison in Russia since 2018 after he was sentenced to 16 years on espionage charges.
The administration initially hoped to get both Griner and Whelan in the exchange but agreed to just Griner.