That's what makes him such a scumbag. Forget differences of opinion. This is a difference in basic character.
These are the reasons Brain Dead Biden did the deal: 1- He needed a Political Win 2- She was Black 3- She was a Woman 4- She was Gay Do you notice anything? This is the majority of the Democratic base of voters. The reasons why Brain Dead Biden did not deal for Paul Whelan: 1- He would not get a Political Win 2- He is White 3- He is a man 4- He is not Gay 5- He is a former Police officer. 6- He supported President Trump Do you notice anything? This is the Republican base of voters. Asshat Biden should of held out for a better deal. He did not. He is a disgrace to all Americans for being a Political Asshat. Anyone who voted for this POS is also a disgrace to all Americans.
CNN — Russia refused to release Paul Whelan alongside Brittney Griner unless a former colonel from Russia’s domestic spy organization currently in German custody was also released as part of any prisoner swap, US officials told CNN, even as the US offered up the names of several other Russian prisoners in US custody that they would be willing to trade. The US was unable to deliver on the request for the ex-colonel, Vadim Krasikov, because he is serving out a life sentence for murder in Germany. CNN first reported exclusively in August that the Russians had requested that Krasikov be released along with Viktor Bout, a Russian arms dealer who was serving a 25-year sentence in the US, in exchange for Whelan and Griner. US officials made quiet inquiries to the Germans about whether they might be willing to include Krasikov in the trade, a senior German government source told CNN earlier this year. But ultimately, the US was not able to secure Krasikov’s release. The German government was not willing to seriously consider including Krasikov –who assassinated a Georgian citizen in broad daylight in Berlin in 2019 – in a potential trade, the German source said. The US made several other offers to the Russians, sources said, to try to get them to agree to include Whelan in the swap. Among the names floated by the US was Alexander Vinnik, a Russian national extradited to the US in August on allegations of money laundering, hacking and extortion. The US also offered to trade Roman Seleznev, a convicted Russian cyber-criminal currently serving a 14-year sentence in the US, sources said. A lawyer for Seleznev did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Frédéric Bélot, a lawyer who represented Vinnik in France before his extradition to the US, told CNN on Friday that he was not aware of any current discussions between Moscow and Washington over including Vinnik in a potential prisoner swap. But Bélot said he could see Vinnik being part of prisoner swap negotiations in the future. “They [Vinnik and Whelan] make part of the possible ‘candidates’ for the next swap,” Bélot said in a text message to CNN. Since Vinnik’s extradition to the US in August, Bélot has appealed directly to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to help secure Vinnik’s release from US custody. But ultimately, the Russians indicated they would only be willing to trade someone they considered to be a spy – Whelan, who was convicted on espionage charges in 2019 – for one of Russia’s own spies: Krasikov. The National Security Council declined to comment. A senior Biden administration official acknowledged to CNN on Thursday night that the Russian side had repeatedly demanded someone not even in US custody, even as the US made a number of different proposals. In the end, the Russians kept asking for the same thing that the US could simply not deliver on, the official said “We have shown an openness to talk about that which is actually available to us and gotten only in response a demand for something not available to us,” the official said, reiterating that the Russians refused what had been offered to secure the release of Whelan.
Tell me your a spy without telling me you're a spy. I do hope they can bring Mr Whelan home. Paul Nicholas Whelan (born March 5, 1970) is a Canadian-born former United States Marine with U.S., British, Irish, and Canadian citizenship.[2][3] He was arrested in Russia on December 28, 2018, and accused of spying. On June 15, 2020, he received a 16-year prison sentence. Whelan was born on March 5, 1970,[4] in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada,[5] to British parents with Irish heritage.[6][3] Career According to a deposition Whelan gave in 2013, he was in law enforcement from 1988 to 2000 as a police officer in Chelsea, Michigan, and a sheriff's deputy in Washtenaw County.[7] The Chelsea Police, however, said he worked in lesser roles and as a part-time officer from 1990 to 1996, while the Washtenaw County sheriff reported no record of his employment.[7] A former colleague said he was a patrol officer from 1998 to 2000 in the Keego Harbor police department.[7] He was an IT manager for the Kelly Services staffing company from 2001[8] to 2003, and then 2008 to 2010. From 2010 to 2016 Whelan was Kelly Services' senior manager of global security and operations.[8] He enlisted in the Marine Corps Reserve in 1994.[7] He took military leave from Kelly Services to serve with the Marine Corps Reserve from 2003 to 2008, including service in Iraq. He held the rank of staff sergeant with Marine Air Control Group 38 working as an administrative clerk and administrative chief, and he was part of Operation Iraqi Freedom.[8] After a court-martial conviction in January 2008 on multiple counts "related to larceny", he was sentenced to 60 days restriction, reduction to pay grade E-4, and a bad conduct discharge.[9][10] The specific charges against him included "attempted larceny, three specifications of dereliction of duty, making a false official statement, wrongfully using another’s social security number, and ten specifications of making and uttering checks without having sufficient funds in his account for payment."[11] When arrested in Russia, Whelan was director of global security and investigations for BorgWarner, an international automotive parts manufacturer based in Michigan.[8] His work with Kelly Services and BorgWarner gave Whelan contacts with law enforcement in many countries.[citation needed] Whelan traveled to Russia several times from 2006 and maintained an intermittent presence on a Russian language social media website, Vkontakte (VK), where he had approximately 70 contacts. He has studied Russian but communicated online using Google Translate.[12][3] Whelan supported US President Donald Trump and, after Trump's 2016 election victory, Whelan posted in Russian Президент Трyмп Вперед!! (President Trump Onward!!).[13][a] He said in a deposition in 2013 that he holds a bachelor's degree in criminal justice and an MBA degree.[14] He took courses at Northern Michigan University from fall 1988 to fall 1990 without earning a degree.[12] Arrest in Russia On December 28, 2018, Whelan was arrested in the Moscow area by the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), which later confirmed his arrest.[15][16][17] Whelan's twin brother David said Whelan arrived in Moscow on December 22 to attend the wedding of a former fellow Marine at the Hotel Metropol Moscow and to assist the groom's family members on their first visit to Russia, a country he had visited many times. He said his brother planned to return to Michigan on January 6, 2019, via Saint Petersburg.[18] Per MBK News, an outlet run by Putin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Whelan had $80,000 in cash "temporarily confiscated" during a customs inspection at Domodedovo Airport.[19] David said his brother entered Russia using his U.S. passport.[4] He said his brother had not been in contact with his family. He was formally charged on January 3, 2019.[20] According to the Russian news agency Rosbalt [ru], Whelan was apprehended in his hotel room at the Metropol while concluding a long outing with a Russian citizen, who handed him a USB drive containing "a list of all the employees at a classified security agency". The independent Latvian-based publication Meduza reported that the wedding attendees all banded close together for the duration of the holiday, and were taken aback by Whelan's decision to spend the day alone.[21] The BBC cited family members of Whelan, who said Whelan previously bragged about knowing an agent of the FSB, and was privy to an unusual cache of personal details about his friend, including which intelligence training school he attended (biographical information typically reserved for a very close circle).[22] As Whelan said about the arrest, his long-time friend had appeared suddenly in the hotel, followed by authorities, who later arrested him.[23] According to the lawyers, they could not provide the name of the Russian long-time friend due to Russian secrecy rules, but Whelan's family identified the person as Ilya Yatsenko, whom the Russian newspaper Kommersant described as a major in the FSB's Department "K", which monitors Russian economic crimes.[24] Whelan was being held in Moscow's Lefortovo Prison.[12] As of March 2019, he shared a cell with another prisoner who spoke no English.[26] Former CIA officers have stated that the CIA would not recruit an officer with Whelan's military record, nor leave an officer exposed without a diplomatic passport.[12] They further claim that Whelan's arrest is connected to tensions between Russia and the United States, including the detention of confessed unregistered foreign agent Maria Butina.[27][28] On December 20, 2018, when discussing Butina's arrest, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that Russia "will not arrest innocent people simply to exchange them".[1] Then-U.S. Ambassador to Russia Jon Huntsman Jr. met with Whelan on January 2, 2019, while Whelan was in Russian custody.[29] He told Whelan's family that Paul was "in good health and good spirits", but that the family needed to supply all his incidental needs aside from basic foodstuffs.[4][c] Then-U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said: "We've made clear to the Russians our expectation that we will learn more about the charges, come to understand what it is he's been accused of and if the detention is not appropriate, we will demand his immediate return."[30] On January 4, 2019, British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said: "We don't agree with individuals being used in diplomatic chess games... We are all extremely worried about him and his family."[20] As of January 4, British and Irish consular officials were seeking access to Whelan.[31] On January 3, 2019, Whelan's attorney, Vladimir Zherebenko,[d] said he was seeking his release on bail. He said a trial would not begin for at least six months, and that he would welcome an exchange of Whelan for Butina.[33] He said: "I presume that he is innocent because, for now, I haven't seen any evidence against him that would prove otherwise."[12] More than a fortnight later, Zherebenkov said Whelan had been unaware of the contents of the USB stick and believed it contained material solely of personal value such as "photographs, videos, anything at all, about his previous holiday in Russia."[34] On January 5, 2019, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that on the day after Whelan's arrest the United States had detained a Russian citizen, Dmitry Makarenko, in the Northern Marianas and transported him to Florida to face charges of unauthorized export of defense equipment.[35][e] Conviction and sentencing On June 15, 2020, Whelan was convicted and sentenced to 16 years in a Russian prison for espionage by a court in Moscow.[36][37] His lawyers said they believed Russia would now seek a prisoner swap. Whelan said in court that the case was a sham to use him to influence the United States: "We have proven my innocence... we have proven fabrication. This is slimy, greasy corrupt Russian politics, nothing more, nothing less."[24][38] Whelan was initially held at the Correctional Colony No. 18 under supervision of the Russian Federation's Federal Penitentiary Service.[39] As of December 2020 he was held in a high-security prison, IK-17, eight hours drive southeast of Moscow.[40] Campaign to release Family members said Whelan had been told that he had been arrested to be exchanged for a Russian prisoner in the United States, mentioning Konstantin Yaroshenko (who was released in return for American Trevor Reed), Viktor Bout, or Roman Seleznev.[41] On July 27, 2022, it was announced that President Joe Biden had authorized a trade for Whelan and WNBA player Brittney Griner, who was arrested in Russia in February on drug charges, in exchange for convicted arms dealer Viktor Bout, nicknamed “Merchant of Death”.[42] After negotiations, only Griner was exchanged for Bout on December 8, 2022 as President Biden was unable to secure the release of Whelan. Whelan's brother David Whelan approved of the decision to "make the deal that was possible, rather than waiting for one that wasn’t going to happen” even though Whelan’s family has been upset not more has been done by presidential administrations to get Paul home.[43] Whelan's family is a part of the Bring Our Families Home campaign which advocates to bring home wrongful detainees and hostages. Whelan's image is featured in a 15-foot (4.6 m) mural in Georgetown (Washington, D.C.) along with other Americans wrongfully detained abroad. Personal life Whelan is a citizen of Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Ireland.[44][45] His twin brother David ascribed Paul's acquisition of the passports to "probably a genealogical interest as much as anything."[4][f] Whelan was born in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, and raised partly in the Ann Arbor area of Michigan where he and his twin brother David graduated from Huron High School in 1988.[18] David said the family had not known Paul had a bad conduct discharge.[4] In addition to his twin brother, Paul Whelan has a brother Andrew and a sister Elizabeth.[4] Whelan lived in Novi, Michigan, prior to detainment in Russia.[46]
I can understand dual-citizenship, but quad? Damn, how does that even work? Especially in a freakish scenario that has a .0000001% chance to happen that all 4 countries go to war with each other? I guess best thing to do would be to flee to a country with no dog in the fight. Like Russia, perhaps.
doubt dude's a spook, more than likely corrupt doing some pay for play. Has a very checkered past last I checked.
there is no positive spin in releasing a known Russian arms dealer with ties to enemies of the U.S. in exchange for Griner....