Biden's Decision to make the Brittney Griner deal poses big political risks

President Biden made dramatic news Thursday when he announced that WNBA star Brittney Griner was on her way back to the United States. Griner, a center for the Phoenix Mercury, had been arrested on drug charges at a Moscow-area airport on February 17, just as Russian President Vladimir Putin was on the cusp of invading Ukraine. Griner’s release will be welcome news to millions of Americans, and the White House celebrated it on Thursday. But the complications are considerable. First, Paul Whelan, an American citizen and former Marine jailed on espionage charges, remains imprisoned in Russia, having been arrested in late 2018. Second, Griner is free because the U.S. has agreed to release Viktor Bout, a notorious Russian arms dealer serving a 25-year sentence for conspiring to kill Americans. The moral complexities of the episode raise real dangers for Biden.