Just an ancillary side note to the U.S-Russia prisoner exchange.
According to an original article from NBC, the negotiations for the prisoner swap included an exchange for either LGBTQ+ hero Brittany Griner or U.S. former marine Paul Whelan.
The Russians would swap either U.S. citizen for the return of arms dealer Viktor Bout; however, the White House would have to decide which American they wanted in return. The White House decided there was greater benefit to getting LGBTQ+ hero Brittany Griner returned, and left Paul Whelan in a Russian prison.
[ NBC Report – Archived Version LINK ]
Obviously, this context of the NBC report makes the Biden administration look bad.
A political and ideological decision within the selection of the Biden administration preference. Realizing this, perhaps after contact from the White House, NBC stealth edited their story after publication in order to eliminate the political problem.
In the original version: “the Kremlin gave the White House the choice of either Griner or Whelan — or none.”
In the stealth revised version: “the Kremlin ultimately gave the White House the choice of either Griner or no one after different options were proposed.”
Even with the modified and carefully worded changes, it looks like Joe Biden chose the trans basketball player over the former U.S. marine, which, given the arc of history, does seem to make sense.
