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Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo hit the Biden administration for exchanging “bad guys for celebrities” after it secured WNBA star Brittney Griner’s release from a Russian prison in a swap for an international arms dealer known as the “Merchant of Death.”
Pompeo said the Trump administration had entered into discussions with Russia about Paul Whelan — the former Marine who remains in a Russian penal colony — but was very specific about standards surrounding any exchange.
“The Trump administration was always very clear: we weren’t going to trade bad guys for celebrities, because it creates the wrong incentives for the bad guys as we go forward,” Pompeo said on “Fox News Sunday.”
“It’s not good for American national security. It’s not good for people who are traveling across the world,” he said.
Pompeo said the aim during the Trump administration was to “get every American back” — but without creating the risk that other US citizens would be taken.
“And there is no doubt that today, not just [Russian president] Vladimir Putin, but all the bad guys, the Iranians, others, who hold Americans in detention see that if you take a celebrity, the chance of getting one of your bad guys back out of American control is greater,” Pompeo said.
“And I think for people out there of notoriety, it is more likely they will be taken hostage today and that is not a good policy,” he added.
