On Saturday, the couple’s fourth wedding anniversary, the Phoenix Mercury center made 11 calls, according to Cherelle Griner, but the US embassy in Moscow, which had promised to connect the call, instead let the phone ring without picking it up.
“This was a regrettable error. At her routine briefing, Jean-Pierre stated that the Department of State is trying to immediately correct this.
A phone call between Brittney Griner and her wife, Cherelle, is being rescheduled after an earlier attempt to connect on the couple's anniversary failed because of an "unfortunate mistake," the White House said Tuesday. https://t.co/IInFkeo8YZ
— ESPN (@espn) June 21, 2022
“I understand there is a phone interview that has been scheduled. I’m not going to speak when. That is up to Brittney Griner’s partner to decide — her wife to decide if they want to make that public.”
According to Cherelle Griner, who spoke to The Associated Press, she hasn’t been allowed to contact her wife in four months and wants to discuss the situation with President Biden in person.
Cherelle Griner said that it was unacceptable. They now have zero trust in the government for missing the Saturday call. Griner said that it is impossible to trust the government with the negotiation when they failed to attend the discussion.
While insisting that any American detained abroad is a priority for this administration, Jean-Pierre claimed to have no knowledge of a probable call between Biden and Cherelle Griner. They’ ve discussed it with them, and they’ll do everything in their power to bring them back.
One of the two Americans reported to be detained in Russia is Griner. The other, a former Marine named Paul Whelan, received a 16-year prison term in 2020 for espionage.
Biden opposes marijuana legalization, and as a senator, he wrote the law that sentenced some marijuana sellers to life in prison without the possibility of release. The White House let go of at least five employees who acknowledged using marijuana in the past year.
