Up until now, the efforts to aid Griner have largely played out behind the scenes: The U.S. A rep for Richardson did not immediately return Rolling Stone’s request for comment. Richardson has also worked as a hostage and prisoner negotiator and recently helped secure the release of Trevor Reed, a former Marine who was arrested in Russia in 2019 after an altercation with police and sentenced to nine years in prison in 2020. ambassador to the United Nations, Bill Richardson, has agreed to work on her case. On top of the re-classification of her case, a source close to Griner told ESPN that former New Mexico governor and U.S. Griner’s agent, Lindsay Kagawa Colas, did not immediately return a request for comment, but did tell ESPN, “Brittney has been detained for 75 days and our expectation is that the White House do whatever is necessary to bring her home.” government will continue to provide appropriate consular support to Ms. The Department of State has determined that the Russian Federation has wrongfully detained U.S.
In a statement shared with Rolling Stone, a State Department spokesperson said, “We have no higher priority than the safety and security of U.S.
