During a press briefing on Monday, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan claimed that the Biden administration had considered the national security implications of releasing notorious Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout – who had been imprisoned for selling weapons that were used to kill Americans – in exchange for WNBA player Brittney Griner release.
“I’m curious, does the administration consider Viktor Bout to be a terrorist?” Real Clear Politics reporter Phil Wegmann asked.
“Well, he’s not listed as a specially designated national,” Sullivan responded. “What we consider him to have been was a convicted criminal, convicted of arms trafficking and other crimes. To serve a sentence, he served 12 years in detention. He was set to be released in 2029. And of course, before we make any determination about whether to send someone back as part of a deal to get an American home, we make a determination about the national security implications of that.”
“We did that assessment in this case. We believe we can manage those challenges, but we will remain constantly vigilant against any threat that Viktor Bout may pose against Americans and the United States going forward,” he added. “We also would just point out that there is no shortage of arms traffickers and mercenaries in Russia who pose challenges and threats to the international order, to the United States, and otherwise. And we are vigilant about that as well, which is why we have built with our allies and partners such a robust policy in dealing with this threat posed by Russia.”
Last week, President Biden made an extremely controversial decision by releasing Bout in exchange for WNBA player Brittney Griner. Bout had been imprisoned in the United States for 14 years following his arrest in Thailand in 2008 for selling tens of millions of dollars in weapons that were used to kill Americans.
Griner, who already had a criminal record in the United States for domestic violence after an incident in 2015, was arrested in Russia in February this year for drug smuggling charges. Griner was sentenced in August to nine years in prison.
