The wife of detained WNBA player Brittney Griner called on President Biden Wednesday to do more to secure the star’s release from Russian custody.
“If they’re holding her because they want you to do something,” Cherelle Griner addressed the president in an interview with Good Morning America, “Then I want you to do it.”
Cherelle’s comments came in a preview of her sit-down interview with anchor Robin Roberts — her first public comments since her wife’s detention began.
Asked about a recent conversation she’d had with Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Cherelle said she was “Grateful for the call.”
“You say she’s top priority, but I want to see it,” she added.
Brittney, 31, was arrested at a Moscow airport in mid-February for allegedly having cannabis vape cartridges in her luggage. She faces five to 10 years in Russian prison if convicted on drug smuggling charges.
US Officials have had only limited contact with her since her arrest. The Biden administration earlier this month shifted her case to the Office of the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs, which is tasked with negotiating the release of Americans being held hostage and others classified as being wrongfully detained in other countries.
Cherelle said she’s been able to keep in touch with Brittney through “sporadic” letters, but hasn’t spoken to her directly in the 96 days she’s been detained.
Brittney, an All Star who won the WNBA championship in 2014 with the Phoenix Mercury, has played for a Russian team in the offseason for the past several years to earn extra money — a fact her wife touched upon in Wednesday’s interview.
“BG would wholeheartedly love to not go overseas,” Cherelle said, using her wife’s initials. “She has only had one Thanksgiving in the States in nine years since she’s been pro. And she misses all that stuff just because she can’t make enough money in the WNBA to sustain her life.”
Cherelle’s full interview is expected to be broadcast on Nightline Wednesday night.