Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on this week’s “Fox News Sunday” broadcast that the Biden administration exchanging convicted arms dealer Viktor Bout for WNBA star Brittney Griner created incentives for bad guys to take more famous people.
Pompeo said, “I’m glad Brittney Griner is back home. They were able to accomplish this. But my mission was always to get every American back but at the same time not create the risk more Americans would be taken. There is no doubt today, not just Vladimir Putin, all the bad guys, the Iranians, and others who hold Americans in detention see if you take a celebrity, the chance of getting one of your bad guys back out if American control is greater and I think for people out there of notoriety it is more likely they will be taken hostage today, and that is not a good policy.”
He added, “We were working hard on each of the cases, including Paul Whelan’s case, during my time in service. We were talking with the Russians at multiple levels with our ambassador on the ground there in Russia.”
Pompeo added, “The Trump administration was always very clear, we weren’t going to trade bad guys for celebrities because it creates the wrong incentives for the bad guys. It’s not good for American national security. It’s not good for people who are traveling across the world.”
Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN
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