Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said offering to release arms trafficker Viktor Bout in exchange for U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner and another American trapped in Russia, Paul Whelan, is not a good trade and sets a bad precedent.
Mr. Pompeo was reacting to the Biden administration’s decision to float a “substantial” trade with Moscow — one that’s believed to center on Bout, who is known as the “Merchant of Death” and serving a 25-year sentence for convictions on conspiracy to kill Americans and other charges.
“He’s a bad guy. He is a guy who wanted to kill Americans.