‘This is Not a Swap, This is a Surrender’: John Bolton Takes Flamethrower to Brittney Griner Deal as ‘Huge Win for Moscow’ Over Biden

Former ambassador John Bolton said Thursday that the 1-for-1 prisoner swap deal negotiated by President Joe Biden‘s administration for the release of WNBA star Brittney Griner is a huge mistake and a gift to Russia’s Vladimir Putin.

The administration announced overnight that a deal had been reached with Russia to hand over convicted international arms dealer Viktor Bout in exchange for Griner’s release — but not, as many had hoped for, the release of former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, who is likewise essentially a hostage in Russia on trumped-up charges.

Anchors Anne-Marie Green and Vladimir Duthiers spoke with Bolton, who served as National Security Adviser during the Trump administration, in an engaging, ten-plus minute interview on CBS News Streaming Network (CBSN) Thursday.

Duthiers asked Bolton first for his reaction and some explanation of how negotiations work in such situations, and Bolton immediately blasted the swap, calling the administration “desperate” for making it.

“Well, obviously, there’s a lot of very understandable human emotion here in getting Griner released, but this is a very bad mistake by the Biden administration,” said Bolton.

“This is not a deal. This is not a swap. This is a surrender,” he said emphatically. “And terrorists and rogue states all around the world will take note of this, and it endangers other Americans in the future who can be grabbed and used as bargaining chips by people who don’t have the same morals and scruples that we do.”

Asked specifically about Bout, Bolton said he can’t get into details about the arms dealer but offered a heavy implication about how dangerous the exchange could be when he said the possibility of trading Bout for Whelan existed while Bolton was in the White House, but that deal “wasn’t made, for very good reasons.”

“This is a huge victory for Moscow over Washington,” Bolton added.

Vladimir Duthiers: Mr. Ambassador, let me just first get your reaction to the news, and if you could also perhaps break down for our viewers the types of negotiations that happen in situations like this.

John Bolton: Well, obviously, there’s a lot of very understandable human emotion here in getting Griner released, but this is a very bad mistake by the Biden administration. This is not a deal. This is not a swap. This is a surrender. And terrorists and rogue states all around the world will take note of this, and it endangers other Americans in the future who can be grabbed and used as bargaining chips by people who don’t have the same morals and scruples that we do.

There are occasions when you swap spies. Obviously, there are legitimate exchanges of prisoners of war. But this doesn’t even approximate that. The idea that somehow what Brittney Griner did very foolishly in my estimate, but that whatever she did compares to Viktor Bout is something that shows just how desperate the administration was to make this deal. And I’m just very worried about the effect it has and the danger that it can put many other Americans in, all around the world.

Anne-Marie Green: Of course, you know, the reporting is — and I think it’s pretty obvious — I don’t think I have to say the reporting is that Brittney Griner was overcharged, that she was charged sort of akin to a drug trafficker to at least make it seem on paper like these two prisoners were equal. Can you tell me what you know about Viktor Bout and why the Russians would want him back so badly?

John Bolton: Well, I really can’t get into specifics, but I’ll just note that Paul Whelan, who was likewise set up by the Russians back in late 2018, so when I was at the White House, is still in custody. And I’ll just note the historical fact that the possibility of a Bout for Whelan trade existed back then, and it wasn’t made, for very good reasons having to deal with Viktor Bout.

But this is a huge victory for Moscow over Washington. And it’s the kind of thing that says to terrorists and rogue states and other malign actors who would consider kidnapping or seizing Americans, that we’re willing to trade almost anything to get Americans back. There are other ways to deal with hostage-takers through sanctions and other things, not swaps like this one.

Watch the clip above, via the CBS News Streaming Network on YouTube.

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