White House official says sentencing of Brittney Griner ‘reprehensible’

John Kirby, coordinator for strategic communications of the National Security Council at the White House, said on Thursday that the nine-year sentence handed down to U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner was “reprehensible in its scope” and again stressed that she was being wrongfully detained. Asked if Russia would accept a prisoner swap that wasn’t “one-for-one” or two-for-two, Kirby said they put forward a serious proposal to return Griner and Paul Whelan to the U.S.

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