NBA Hall of Famer Dennis Rodman plans to travel to Russia to help imprisoned WNBA star Brittney Griner after being given “permission to go,” he revealed to a journalist over the weekend.
Rodman, an NBA superstar, has a long-established friendship with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and a history of conducting informal diplomacy with the dictator on the United States’s behalf. He is not as close with Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose approval would be necessary for Griner’s release, but he has traveled to the region and previously called the authoritarian leader “cool.”
PUTIN WANTS TO BE DIRECTLY INVOLVED WITH BIDEN ON GRINER PRISONER SWAP
“I got permission to go to Russia to help that girl,” Rodman told an NBC News reporter at a D.C. restaurant Saturday evening, referencing Griner. “I’m trying to go this week.”
Asked if he had any concerns about being able to work with the Kremlin, Rodman said: “I know Putin too well.”
Griner, 31, was found guilty earlier this month of smuggling drugs into Russia and was sentenced to nine years in a penal colony. The basketball star was initially detained in February. Customs officers in Moscow had found vaping cartridges that contained cannabis oil in her luggage.
The U.S. State Department has maintained Griner was wrongfully detained, accusing the Kremlin of holding her prisoner as a political pawn amid Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine. Russian officials have denied this, claiming a verdict had to be made in her case before discussing a prisoner exchange.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Reached for comment by the Washington Examiner, a State Department spokesperson said that they were aware of Rodman’s travels but declined to elaborate. The representative also reiterated the department’s travel advisory, warning Americans not to visit the country.
A senior Biden administration official told the Washington Examiner: “It is public information that the administration has made a significant offer to the Russians, and anything other than negotiating further through the established channel is likely to complicate and hinder release efforts.”
