POLITICAL BLOTTER

[bklynboy68]

Saudi Leader MBS Helped Broker Brittney Griner Swap After White House Ended Khashoggi Suiit

Greg Wilson Dec 8, 2022



Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman helped broker the dramatic prisoner swap between the U.S. and Moscow that sprang WNBA star Brittney Griner from a Russian gulag, days after the Biden administration helped spike a lawsuit against the Saudi ruler.

MBS, as the Saudi leader is known, and United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed “led mediation efforts” between the two nations whose diplomatic ties have been badly frayed by the war in Ukraine, according to Arab News. Griner was traded for Viktor Bout, a Russian arms dealer who plotted to help South American terrorists attack the U.S.

“The ministries said the success of the mediation efforts was a reflection of the mutual and solid friendship between their two countries and the United States and Russia,” read a joint statement from Saudi Arabia and the UAE. “They also highlighted the important role played by the leaderships of the two brotherly countries in promoting dialogue between all parties.”


President Joe Biden did not mention details of the negotiation in a Thursday morning announcement of the swap in which he condemned Russia’s handling of Griner, who was arrested February 17 after being caught with marijuana vaping materials at a Moscow airport.


“[Griner] endured mistreatment at a show trial in Russia with characteristic grit and incredible dignity. She represents the best America – the best about America,” Biden said from the White House, where he was joined by Griner’s wife, Cherelle Griner.

U.S. officials did not directly confirm the role of MBS in securing Griner’s release

“In the course of getting to this happy result with respect to Brittney, and in the course of working to secure the release of Paul, as we continue to do, we have and I’m sure we’ll continue to lean on partners around the world to work this through with us, to give us their ideas, and to impress upon the Russians how important it is to us to resolve these sorts of cases,” a senior administration official told The Associated Press. “And we appreciate when those partners do help us. And I’ll leave it there.”

Relations between Saudi Arabia and Biden administration have been strained, but Biden last week said MBS could not be sued in U.S. courts for his alleged role in ordering the 2018 murder and dismemberment inside a Turkish consulate of Jamal Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist and ardent critic of the Saudi ruler. Khashoggi’s widow had sued MBS in Washington, D.C., federal court.

“Mohammed bin Salmon, the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, is the sitting head of government and, accordingly, is immune from this suit,” read a motion filed last week by the Department of Justice.

District of Columbia District Judge John Bates said on Tuesday that he had no choice but to dismiss the case despite what he said were “credible allegations of his involvement in Khashoggi’s murder.”

It was not known if the Biden administration’s move to shield MBS affected the Saudi leader’s role in brokering the prisoner swap.

The U.S. had hoped to win the release of Paul Whelan, a Michigan man and former Marine jailed in Russia since December 2018 on espionage charges that the U.S. government said are baseless. But the deal set to be announced on Thursday was a one-for-one, sources said.

Whelan’s brother, David Welan, said in a statement that his family is “glad that Brittney Griner is on her way home,” but said the family remains heartbroken that Paul Whelan remains imprisoned.

“Despite the possibility that there might be an exchange without Paul, our family is still devastated,” David Whelan said. “I can’t even fathom how Paul will feel when he learns. Paul has worked so hard to survive nearly 4 years of this injustice. His hopes had soared with the knowledge that the US government was taking concrete steps for once towards his release. He’d been worrying about where he’d live when he got back to the U.S.”

Bout, a Russian national with ties to President Vladimir Putin, was arrested on terrorism charges in 2008 by Thai police working with U.S. authorities and Interpol. He was extradited to the U.S. in 2010 and later convicted in Manhattan federal court of smuggling arms including anti-aircraft missiles to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) for use against U.S. forces. He was serving a minimum of 25 years in prison at the federal penitentiary in Marion, Illinois.


https://www.dailywire.com/news/saudi...gi-suit-report

[Number 47]

Unless Russia planted the substance on her which based on everything I have read isn't the case, she is a freaking idiot to try to smuggle anything into a country who's leader is off our Christmas card list.

She went there for employment. On a business trip. Make sure you have your i's dotted and your T's crossed. Especially when being a "high profile" figure. Oh and you are gay and going into a country that isn't too fond of alternative lifestyles. Its like me being a Christian going into Iran or North Korea. I likely should ensure I don't trigger anything. Then to top it off you are African American, very tall for a woman, etc. You will stick out and are easy to target

She could have smuggled in a nanogram of pot. Its against their laws. Putin, Boris, Natasha, etc are all not citizens of the United States, Netherlands, Germany, Colorado, California, etc. They have their own laws whether we like them or not. Woman can't drive in some countries and its their laws.

She is an idiot. The president is an idiot for trading her for a convicted arms dealer. That's really about it. I feel sorry that her parents, friends and wife had to deal with it and am glad she is home but not at the expense of making our world less safe.

If this was a good Hollywood summer blockbuster, the POTUS would have said keep them both then... and shot the arms dealer in the head. Your move.

I'm just glad someone came home. Politics.

[Dave's Dreidel]

Sure, I am not saying she bears no responsibility.

But let's say she brushed up on Russian law. She'd be facing a fine and likely no jail time.

I think it is easy in hindsight to say, 'She should have known she could be a political pawn,' which I know you aren't really saying, but all you have to do is look at that woman a few years ago where 19 grams got a $200+ fine and one month in jail, and I think it is easy to never in your wildest dreams, especially as someone paid a lot of money to entertain people there, think that they'd basically throw out their laws and give you 9 years.

You keep saying this like it matters.

Laws in Russia don't matter man, the punishment is what they want it to be, for the crime that they drum up. They used her a chip to get back Bout, it is really that simple. She travelled with marijuana into an authoritarian country, she should have known better, I don't care if it was 0.1 grams.

It is her fault that Viktor Bout is a free man, she let the Russian government use her to get that guy out.

Again, I have empathy for her, and I am glad she is out, but that doesn't remove her from responsibility or limit that she was fucking stupid.

[bklynboy68]

Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema leaves Democratic Party, registers as independent

Kyrsten Sinema won't say whether she will caucus with Democrats

December 9, 2022



Democratic Sen. Kyrsten Sinema has left the Democratic Party and registered as an independent.

Sinema made the announcement Friday by publishing an op-ed in the Arizona Republic.

The senator cited increasingly partisan interests and radicalization of both political parties as the reason for her departure.

"Americans are told that we have only two choices – Democrat or Republican – and that we must subscribe wholesale to policy views the parties hold, views that have been pulled further and further toward the extremes," Synema wrote in the op-ed.

"Most Arizonans believe this is a false choice, and when I ran for the U.S. House and the Senate, I promised Arizonans something different," she continued. "I pledged to be independent and work with anyone to achieve lasting results. I committed I would not demonize people I disagreed with, engage in name-calling, or get distracted by political drama."

Sinema went on to accuse mainstream political parties in the U.S. of worrying more about blocking each other out than the well-being of their constituents.

"When politicians are more focused on denying the opposition party a victory than they are on improving Americans’ lives, the people who lose are everyday Americans.," Sinema wrote in the op-ed.

She added, "That’s why I have joined the growing numbers of Arizonans who reject party politics by declaring my independence from the broken partisan system in Washington. I registered as an Arizona independent. "


https://www.foxnews.com/politics/ari...rs-independent

[edwardv]

Diversity in elected government is good

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[ziggysmalls]

I didn't come up with this but think about it.

Swapping a WNBA player for a convicted arms dealer is the end result of 10 months of negotiating by our State Department. The best deal we were able to make was this.

Bravo Mr Biden. Bravo.

[fudd]

I didn't come up with this but think about it.

Swapping a WNBA player for a convicted arms dealer is the end result of 10 months of negotiating by our State Department. The best deal we were able to make was this.

Bravo Mr Biden. Bravo.

No shit. I’d hate to see his mortgage and car payments.


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[Number 47]

You keep saying this like it matters.

Laws in Russia don't matter man, the punishment is what they want it to be, for the crime that they drum up. They used her a chip to get back Bout, it is really that simple. She travelled with marijuana into an authoritarian country, she should have known better, I don't care if it was 0.1 grams.

It is her fault that Viktor Bout is a free man, she let the Russian government use her to get that guy out.

Again, I have empathy for her, and I am glad she is out, but that doesn't remove her from responsibility or limit that she was fucking stupid.

I'm excited to see how she parlays this experience into the new face of discrimination: (You're gonna need a check list for this one.)

[edwardv]

America loves pot smokin anti American basketball players. What's one more Russian arms dealer selling to Somalia or Venezuela?

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[lovemachine97(Version 2)]

You keep saying this like it matters.

Laws in Russia don't matter man, the punishment is what they want it to be, for the crime that they drum up. They used her a chip to get back Bout, it is really that simple. She travelled with marijuana into an authoritarian country, she should have known better, I don't care if it was 0.1 grams.

It is her fault that Viktor Bout is a free man, she let the Russian government use her to get that guy out.

Again, I have empathy for her, and I am glad she is out, but that doesn't remove her from responsibility or limit that she was fucking stupid.

I never said she bears no responsibility.

I’m pointing out that “don’t break the law” isn’t as simple as some suggest. As you point out, that doesn’t matter in an authoritarian country.

Putting zero blame on the authoritarian country using an American citizen as a pawn over something that’s an administrative issue over there, not a criminal one, is what I have a problem with.

What if they’d killed her, like North Korea and Otto Warmbier? Do we just say, ‘Welp, you broke their laws?’ It matters what kind of law breaking we’re talking about versus how they convict her versus the punishment.

The reason our state department called this a wrongful detainment has to to do with Russia, not just Griner.

I’m not saying people shouldn’t recognize that what they take into a country like that is something they should pay close attention to. But saying she should have to rot there because Russia decided to invent themselves a trade chip is crazy.


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[MD 5150]

Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema leaves Democratic Party, registers as independent

Kyrsten Sinema won't say whether she will caucus with Democrats

December 9, 2022

And there is already talk about a "stronger" Democrat running against her in 2024.

[Dave's Dreidel]

I never said she bears no responsibility.

I’m pointing out that “don’t break the law” isn’t as simple as some suggest. As you point out, that doesn’t matter in an authoritarian country.

Putting zero blame on the authoritarian country using an American citizen as a pawn over something that’s an administrative issue over there, not a criminal one, is what I have a problem with.

What if they’d killed her, like North Korea and Otto Warmbier? Do we just say, ‘Welp, you broke their laws?’ It matters what kind of law breaking we’re talking about versus how they convict her versus the punishment.

The reason our state department called this a wrongful detainment has to to do with Russia, not just Griner.

I’m not saying people shouldn’t recognize that what they take into a country like that is something they should pay close attention to. But saying she should have to rot there because Russia decided to invent themselves a trade chip is crazy.


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Reminds me of the story of the scorpion and frog, we all know it.

Don't go to Russia, have Russia act like Russia, and then tell me it is Russia's fault.

And I never said she should rot there, but trading her for fucking Viktor Bout? Hell no.

[bklynboy68]

And there is already talk about a "stronger" Democrat running against her in 2024.

Stronger meaning radical left winger.

[Dave's Dreidel]

Stronger meaning radical left winger.

She knows she probably has a better chance running as an Independent and skipping the very likely possibility of being primaried by her own party. Pretty smart politically.

[bklynboy68]

She knows she probably has a better chance running as an Independent and skipping the very likely possibility of being primaried by her own party. Pretty smart politically.

Absolutely. But you know any Democrat running against her will be much further to the left than she is.