.AmbJohnBolton: Paul Whelan-Viktor Bout prisoner swap was turned down by Trump administration
Bolton said that the Trump administration was presented with the opportunity to trade Whelan, a former Marine, for Bout, an arms dealer nicknamed the"Merchant of Death."
“The possibility of a Bout-for-Whelan trade existed back then and it wasn’t made, for very good reasons having to deal with Viktor Bout,” he told CBS News.Whelan, now 52, was arrested in Russia in December 2018. Russian authorities claim he was working as a spy. In 2020, he was convicted on charges of espionage and sentenced to 16 years in prison.
His plight has been highlighted this week in the wake of the Biden administration’s prisoner swap between Bout and WNBA star Brittney Griner. Griner was detained earlier this year and eventually sentenced over drug charges."This is not a deal. This is not a swap.
The 1-for-1 prisoner swap of Brittney Griner and Viktor Bout between the U.S. and Russia was a"very bad mistake," former Trump admin. National Security Adviser Amb. John Bolton says, calling it a"victory for Moscow over Washington."— CBS News December 8, 2022 Whelan, for his part, said he was “greatly disappointed” that he wasn’t part of any swap deal.
“I am greatly disappointed that more has not been done to secure my release, especially as the four-year anniversary of my arrest is coming up. I was arrested for a crime that never occurred,” he told CNN shortly after the news of the prisoner exchange was revealed publicly. “I don’t understand why I’m still sitting here.
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