Dennis Rodman. (Screenshot courtesy of YouTube/NBA)
The U.S. discouraged former NBA star Dennis Rodman Aug. 22 from traveling to Russia in order to help secure Brittney Griner’s release.
Rodman told NBC News Aug. 20 while he was at a D.C. restaurant that he “got permission to go to Russia to help that girl.”
“I’m trying to go this week,” said Rodman.
A Russian court earlier this month convicted Griner — a Phoenix Mercury center and two-time Olympic gold medalist — of smuggling drugs into the country and sentenced her to nine years in a penal colony. Griner’s lawyers have appealed her sentence.
State Department spokesperson Ned Price told reporters during a press briefing Aug. 22 that Rodman “would not be traveling (to Russia) on behalf of the U.S. government.” A White House source told the Washington Blade the administration is “really not thrilled about Rodman and he definitely was not given permission by (the) U.S. to negotiate with Russia over” Griner’s release.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken has publicly acknowledged the U.S. has offered Russia a deal to secure the release of Griner and Paul Whelan, another American citizen who is serving a 16-year prison sentence after his conviction for spying.
American officials have reportedly expressed a willingness to release Viktor Bout, a Russian arms dealer who is serving a 25-year prison sentence in the U.S., as part of a prisoner swap. A spokesperson for Russia’s Foreign Ministry has confirmed negotiations between the two countries over a potential prisoner swap have begun.
“We put forward a substantial proposal to Russia to seek the freedom of Paul Whelan and Brittney Griner,” said Price Aug. 22. “We believe that anything other than negotiating further through the established channel is likely to complicate and hinder those release efforts.
“We’ve also provided very clear guidance to American citizens owing to a number of threats, not the least of which is the threat of wrongful detention, that Americans should not travel to Russia,” he added. “That has been our message to private Americans across the board.”
Rodman in 2014 traveled to North Korea with a group of former NBA players who played in an exhibition game for leader Kim Jung Un’s Birthday. Rodman has made several other trips to North Korea in recent years, despite the country’s deplorable human rights record.
