As we reported earlier, the Biden team made a trade to get basketball player Brittney Griner out of a Russian jail for a pot conviction and she’s already in the custody of the United States.

Who did we give up to get her released? An infamous convicted terrorist, Viktor Bout, who is called the “Merchant of Death.”

DOJ press release on 2011 conviction of Viktor Bout: “Bout was convicted of conspiring to kill U.S. nationals; conspiring to kill U.S. officers & employees; conspiring to acquire & use anti-aircraft missiles; + conspiring to provide material support to a foreign terrorist org…” pic.twitter.com/uFK3aJEpge

— Jerry Christmas 🎅🏼🎄 (@JerryDunleavy) December 8, 2022

Viktor Bout:

The arms dealer that inspired Nicholas Cage's character in Lord of War.

Was currently serving a sentence 16 years longer than Griner

Illegally supplied weapons estimated to have killed *hundreds of thousands* of Africans https://t.co/LUI2osvD95

— Joe Colangelo (@Itsjoeco) December 8, 2022

Many questioned the apparent lopsided nature of the deal. Not only because Biden gave up someone likely to be a great danger in the future, but also because Paul Whelan, a Marine who has been held for much longer, was left out of the deal.

For once, I agree with Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), who is soon to be out of a job in January and probably on his way down the road to being an irrelevant commentator on MSNBC or CNN.

What about retired marine who has been unjustly detained for years, Paul Whelan? Surely an arms dealer is worth two innocent people? @POTUS

— Adam Kinzinger #fella (@AdamKinzinger) December 8, 2022

So a basketball star is released, we can celebrate, but what about Paul Whelan? An American unjustly detained for years. May not be high profile but he is innocent.

This is a dangerous road.

— Adam Kinzinger #fella (@AdamKinzinger) December 8, 2022

This letter from Paul Whelan was sent to me EXACTLY 3 years ago. https://t.co/TAnrA6yovG

— Adam Kinzinger #fella (@AdamKinzinger) December 8, 2022

He’s right, it’s a dangerous precedent to set, to trade away a terrorist for someone with a pot conviction with a much shorter sentence. It raises the question of why you don’t trade with terrorists, to begin with, and how such a move can endanger Americans in the future. It’s incredibly sad that he isn’t the priority. You can read the bravery that he exhibits in that letter to Kinzinger. Lefortovo prison is no picnic.

But hey, trust American Federation of Teachers head loon Randi Weingarten to concentrate on the priorities.

What a great relief!!! Extraordinary news, a basketball star, but also a gay, black woman is released. And yes of course we want other prisoners like Paul Whelan released.

— Randi Weingarten 🇺🇦🇺🇸💪🏿👩‍🎓 (@rweingarten) December 8, 2022

Why is she mentioning those categories? We care about Americans, not categories. I guess those categories trump the category of “Marine.”

Biden delivered some remarks on the trade but naturally, took no questions. He claimed that the Russians refused to make Whelan part of the deal.

“We have not forgotten about Paul Whelan. This was not a choice about which American to release,” Biden said. “Russia is treating Paul’s case differently … we are not giving up.”

Translation: This is weakness when he had a stronger hand. How are you going to get him out when you just gave away one of the biggest bargaining chips you had to do it? This is practically admitting you’ve thrown in your hand on Whelan, even as they protest they’re still trying.

One more thought? Trump makes better deals.

Trump got North Korea to release three American hostages as a goodwill gesture, for nothing in exchange.

Putin convinced Biden to let him keep a former Marine behind bars, so that he could get a WNBA player back, in exchange for an international arms dealer.

— Jordan Schachtel @ dossier.substack.com (@JordanSchachtel) December 8, 2022