“(As) I sit right here in a Russian jail, alone with my ideas and with out the safety of my spouse, household, pals, Olympic jersey, or any accomplishments, I am terrified I is perhaps right here ceaselessly,” she wrote, in keeping with to an announcement launched by the communications firm representing the Griner household.
Griner’s supporters and US officers say she has been wrongfully detained and have known as for her launch as fears mount that she is getting used as a political pawn amid rising tensions between Russia and the US.
Griner’s letter to Biden, in keeping with the assertion from the communications firm, was delivered to the White Home on Monday morning. Three excerpts from the letter have been made public, whereas the remainder is being stored personal, the assertion stated.
“On the 4th of July, our household usually honors the service of those that fought for our freedom, together with my father who’s a Vietnam Struggle Veteran. It hurts excited about how I often have a good time today as a result of freedom means one thing fully completely different to me this yr,” Griner wrote to Biden.
“I notice you might be coping with a lot, however please remember about me and the opposite American Detainees. Please do all you may to convey us residence. I voted for the primary time in 2020 and I voted for you. I consider in you. I nonetheless have a lot good to do with my freedom you can assist restore. I miss my spouse! I miss my household! I miss my teammates! It kills me to know they’re struggling a lot proper now. grateful for no matter you are able to do at this second to get me residence.”
Biden has learn the handwritten letter, White Home press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre stated Tuesday.
“We’re going to use each software that we probably can” to convey Griner residence, she added.
The White Home repeated Monday that “the Russian Federation is wrongfully detaining Brittney Griner.”
“President Biden has been clear about the necessity to see all US nationals who’re held hostage or wrongfully detained overseas launched, together with Brittney Griner. The US authorities continues to work aggressively — utilizing each out there means — to convey her residence,” Nationwide Safety Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson stated in an announcement to CNN.
“The President’s staff is in common contact with Brittney’s household and we are going to proceed to work to help her household,” Watson stated, including that nationwide safety adviser Jake Sullivan and Secretary of State Antony Blinken “have spoken a number of occasions with Brittney’s spouse in latest weeks and the White Home is carefully coordinating with the Particular Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs, who has met with Brittney’s household, her teammates, and her help community.”
In the one interview she gave on the eve of her spouse’s trial in Russia, Cherelle Griner sat within the Phoenix Mercury locker room and known as for extra motion.
“It is actually, actually tough. This isn’t a scenario the place the rhetoric is matching the motion,” she stated. “I do must sadly push folks to ensure that the issues they’re telling me can also be matching their actions, and so it has been the toughest factor to stability as a result of I am unable to let up. It is over 130 days and BG’s nonetheless not again.”
“Not a day goes by that we aren’t considering of Brittney and dealing to get her residence,” Democratic Rep. Greg Stanton of Arizona, who sponsored the decision, stated in an announcement. “We are going to proceed to push for her launch and ensure that she shouldn’t be forgotten.”
Stanton beforehand served as mayor of Phoenix, the place Griner performs for the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury.
Stanton launched the decision in Could together with Democratic Reps. Sheila Jackson Lee and Colin Allred of Texas, Griner’s residence state.
“I am grateful for this overwhelming present of help from Congress. We must be doing all we are able to to maintain Brittney’s case on the forefront and eventually put an finish to this nightmare,” Cherelle Griner stated in an announcement on the time.
Vanessa Nygaard, the first-year head coach for the Phoenix Mercury, reacted Monday to Griner’s letter throughout a information convention in Los Angeles forward of her staff’s sport towards the Sparks.
“It made me cry, you already know, simply listening to her phrases speaking about her father being a Vietnam vet, her new perspective on freedom, her eager to be along with her household and her teammates, her not realizing if she’ll ever be free once more . On our day of freedom, listening to these phrases from such a beloved particular person … It is nice, and it is nice that she was in a position to get that message to us and hopefully some individuals are listening to it and, in fact, the Biden administration and our State Division placing that on the entrance of their messaging can be superb for us,” Nygaard stated.
The Mercury introduced final week {that a} particular public rally in help of Griner will probably be held Wednesday on the Footprint Middle in Phoenix. The occasion is being hosted in coordination with Stanton’s workplace, and Cherelle Griner will probably be a featured speaker.
CORRECTION: An earlier model of this story misspelled the primary title of Brittney Griner.
This story has been up to date with a response from the White Home on Tuesday.
CNN’s Abby Phillip, Steve Almasy, Homero De la Fuente, Rachel Janfaza, Kevin Liptak, Maegan Vazquez and Jill Martin contributed to this report.