State Department Officials Meet With Griner’s WNBA Team
Jun 13, 2022, 2:45 PM
A detail view of the decal honoring Brittney Griner before the game between the Phoenix Mercury and the Las Vegas Aces at Footprint Center on May 06, 2022 in Phoenix, Arizona. Phoenix Mercury center Brittney Griner has been detained by the Russian government since February. (Photo by Chris Coduto/Getty Images)
(Photo by Chris Coduto/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON (AP) — State Department officials met Monday with representatives of Brittney Griner’s WNBA team about the Phoenix Mercury star’s monthslong detention in Russia and the Biden administration’s efforts to secure her release.
The State Department confirmed the meeting, which involved officials from its specialized office that advocates for hostages and wrongfully detained Americans, but offered no additional details about what was said or who specifically attended.
Representatives from the State Department, including the Office of the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs, met today with the Phoenix Mercury, Brittney Griner's WNBA team, per a State Department spokesperson. The spokesperson did not provide details about the meeting
— Jennifer Hansler (@jmhansler) June 13, 2022
The administration has previously said that its working to bring Griner and another American, Michigan corporate security executive Paul Whelan, home from Russia.
Griner was detained on Feb. 17 at an airport in Russia after authorities there said a search of her bag revealed vape cartridges containing a cannabis derivative. In May, the State Department reclassified Griner as wrongfully detained and transferred oversight of her case to the State Department Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs, or SPEHA.
