Officials at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow visited jailed WNBA star Brittney Griner today, just weeks after a Russian court rejected the appeal of her nine-year sentence for drug possession.
State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a tweet that the American representatives"saw firsthand her tenacity and perseverance despite her present circumstances."
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Griner"is doing as well as can be expected under the circumstances" and that the administration was working"to resolve the current unacceptable and wrongful detentions" of Griner and Whelan." She admitted at her trial to having the canisters in her luggage but testified she packed them inadvertently in her haste to make her flight and had no criminal intent. Her lawyers have called the punishment excessive.
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