Posted on 12/09/2022 7:07:59 AM PST by ChicagoConservative27
Thursday, FNC’s Tucker Carlson was critical of the prisoner swap between the U.S. and Russian governments that gave the United States Brittney Griner in exchange for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout.
Carlson suggested Griner was the beneficiary because Paul Whelan, another American imprisoned in Russia, was a Trump voter.
“So, at this point, we can assume the obvious,” Carlson said. “The Biden administration chose Brittney Griner over Paul Whelan. The basketball player over the Marine facing 16 years. There was only room for one in the lifeboat, and the Marine got left behind. Well, why did they make that choice? Well, you should know that Whelan is a Trump voter, and he made the mistake of saying so on social media. He’s paying the price for that now. Brittney Griner is not. She’s got very different politics. Brittney Griner despises the United States. She’s been very vocal about that.”
(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...
Trump recently weighed in with his dissatisfaction about the Griner/Bout prisoner swap on his Truth Social.
He made no mention of Whelan.
John Bolton spoke out against Whelans detention repeatedly as a member of the Trump administration.
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The same John Bolton mentioned here:
Trump turned down Viktor Bout-for-Paul Whelan prisoner swap, John Bolton says
https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/4114950/posts
Did Trump do anything to gain Whelan’s freedom during his tenure? I’m guessing no, because Whelan is still there.
Actually, the military appeals court document you linked provides enough information. The summary says his crimes included writing multiple bad checks, false use of an SSN, dereliction of duty, etc.
Receiving a fine, reduction in rank, confinement, and a BCD was not especially severe, especially since he was a career Marine (SSgt).
Thanks for posting this link since this information about his military career, along with reports of citizenship in multiple countries, paints a completely different picture of him and his character.
You don’t remember what you posted?
Thanks for posting this link since this information about his military career, along with reports of citizenship in multiple countries, paints a completely different picture of him and his character.
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His arrest was discussed here on FR back in 2018. Here’s the thread:
https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3717407/posts
Yes, I do; are you referring to Whelan’s BCD or Trump’s lack of effort on his behalf?
I agree with Bolton.
But the fact remains Trump did a lot about whelan.
I suppose you can argue he didn’t say anything to the press about it.
His administration did a lot of work on the whelan case and part of that work was deciding he was not worth this deadly arms dealer.
You may not like trumps work on this but the idea he did nothing is wrong.
I found that Detroit Free Press article from 2019 you’re referring to. You left a little bit out:
“Accused of spying, Paul Whelan makes plea from Russia, asks Trump to intervene
From inside a glass enclosure in Moscow City Court, Paul Whelan, who has been accused of spying, appealed Thursday to President Donald Trump to intervene in his case, saying he is a victim of “political kidnapping.”
“Mr. President, we cannot keep America great unless we aggressively protect American citizens wherever they are in the world,” Whelan, 49, of Novi told reporters.
He urged the president to tweet about his intentions.
To date, Trump has remained quiet about Whelan, a former Marine who was the director of global security for the Auburn Hills-based auto supplier BorgWarner when he was arrested in his Moscow hotel in December and accused of spying.
Although Trump has yet to make a statement (or tweet) about Whelan, others in his administration — most recently U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton — have spoken out against the continued detention of an American citizen without evidence from the Russian government to support its claims of espionage.
Bolton tweeted June 16 about meeting with Whelan’s sister to discuss how to support him in prison, and wrote, “Russia has provided no evidence of wrongdoing.”
And then the article picks up what you posted.
Trump did not mention Whelan publicly despite Whelan and his family’s pleas that he do so.
Whelan’s sister is a huge Trump fan, she was very active in going to Congress and the WH to ask officials to work on his release. Trump did not meet with her, nor did he meet with any other members of Whelan’s family.
Trump has an opportunity NOW to talk about Whelan but has not done so thus far.
His administration through proper channels such as the state department led by Bolton sought his release. Bolton and other officials spoke out for his release. Trump state department officials were in Russia at his trials.
All of this is vastly more than nothing and the trump team work is the foundation of the Grindr release. Biden simply enacted those former considerations that were rejected for whelan.
You don’t like that he won’t talk about whelan. That’s far different than doing nothing.
You said Trump did nothing. You don’t know that
Trevor Reed is another American who was arrested in Russia in 2019. He was released in a prisoner swap last April.
“Trevor Reed Mocks Jim Jordan for Saying Trump Could Free Brittney Griner
6/14/22
Trevor Reed, the American veteran who was detained for nearly three years in a Russian prison, hit back at GOP Representative Jim Jordan after the congressman suggested that basketball player Brittney Griner would be released from Russian custody if former President Donald Trump was still in the White House.
Jordan on Tuesday tweeted, “Everyone knows President Trump would have negotiated Brittney Griner’s release by now.” In response, Reed tweeted back: “Yeah big thanks to President Trump for getting myself and Paul Whelan out of Russia. Not.”
Thanks. Briefly looked at the 2018 article and the comments. Definitely not your typical profile. In fact, makes Griner look kinda tame even though she (?) is a celebrity.
Alternative theory: Free lance spy trying to score some important Russian secrets to improve his chances of being picked up by one of the western intelligence agencies/services.
Thanks. Briefly looked at the 2018 article and the comments. Definitely not your typical profile.
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Whelan’s supposedly a citizen of multiple countries but I haven’t found anything regarding these other countries’ interest or efforts to free him.
It’s noted that Whelan’s arrest was right around the same time as Maria Butina’s (that Russian friend to the NRA) conviction after she pleaded guilty to being a foreign agent. Butina was the first Russian national to be convicted of such.
For a person who was dishonorably discharged and indicates a number of uncertain international behaviors, I think he has gotten fairly generous treatment.
I do hope he is able to be released but I do not believe at all that Trump did nothing.
In fact, I would not be at all surprised if Trump did more than Biden’s team. Here again there is an abundance of news article discussing what the Trump team was doing on the case. It was all in the context of a super stupid intellectual culture imagining that Trump and Putin were in some sort of love affair and Putin installed Trump as President over Queen Clinton.
OUr pathological intellectual culture plays a large role in these difficulties. I wanted to clarify that you are not trying to help that pathology along by being some sort of Trump reactionary.
You wanted and want Trump to mention this person by name. Thats fine but a different point.
Yeah. The communists (Russians, Chinese, and North Koreans) have a habit of the tit-for-tat taking of hostages. We arrest one of theirs (or, alternatively, severely criticize some action they have taken) and, almost simultaneously, they “discover” a spy or some violation of their laws meriting arrest.
The reasons for Whelan’s BCD from the Marine Corps and his multinational citizenships makes me think he is sort of a shady/slippery character. The kind that is always looking for an angle to be exploited. He may have genuinely been in Moscow to attend a friend’s wedding. That wouldn’t prevent him trying to get some side action going.
And that muddies the waters a bit. Hence, my speculation about him possibly being a free lancer.
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