Griner’s wife makes new plea to Biden
When Brittney Griner was detained by Russian authorities, she texted her wife, Cherelle, but her phone was soon taken.
It’s been almost 100 days and the Griners have yet to talk again, communicating only through sporadic letters.
Cherelle now wants to speak with President Joe Biden about bringing her wife back home.
“I just keep hearing, ‘he has the power,’ ‘she’s political pawn,’ ” Cherelle said during an interview that aired Wednesday on “Good Morning America.” “If they’re holding her because they want you (Biden) to do something, then I want you to do it.”
The Pheonix Mercury star and twotime Olympic gold medalist for Team USA has been detained since Feb. 17 after vaping cartridges containing oil derived from cannabis were allegedly found in her language while going through an airport outside of Moscow.
Griner now faces drug smuggling charges that could land her in prison for 10 years. Griner’s original detention date was set to end on May 19, but Russia extended her pretrial detention another 30 days.
Griner was overseas, playing basketball for a team in Russia to supplement her WNBA income.
“BG would wholeheartedly love to not go (play) overseas,” her wife said. “She has only had one Thanksgiving in the States in the nine years that she has been pro and she misses all that stuff because she can’t make enough money in the WNBA to sustain her life.”
Cherelle also shared that she was “grateful” to have received a call from Secretary of State Anthony Blinken but wants to see more action.
“You say she’s top priority, but I wanna see it, and I feel like to see it would be me seeing BG on U.S. soil,” she said.
“At this point I don’t even know who I’m getting back when she comes back.”