I picture he and Hunter working on a ‘pardon for cash’ list for that final haul.
Sure, why not? It worked for the previous occupant of the office.
exactly, he’s got near total immunity so what the hell?
Moderating:
From concern-trolling to open trolling. You’re not moving in the right direction. Your posting privileges are being suspended for a day while we further review whether to make that suspension permanent.
Did anybody have get Gershkovich and Whalen released from Russian custody on their bingo card? Because Biden just did it. I am giving him all the credit for this one. I guess he’s not quite so senile after all. (Still did the right thing stepping down but apparently not the lamest duck in town).
I haven’t read the story-who did we release in turn? Was it a good deal?
This breaking-news WaPo story doesn’t say (or I can’t find it), but it’s a huge exchange:
Gift link:
It involved 24 prisoners from at least 6 countries. The biggest Russian one was that hit man who shot someone in a Berlin park. It’s breaking news so I don’t know who else was involved except that Biden apparently went to countries holding Russian prisoners and persuaded them to release them as part of the trade. There were apparently about a dozen Germans released along with other reporters. This was a massive deal. MSNBC is reporting four Americans total.
Can you share where you saw this? I am not doubting you, but I want to be sure this is the case before accruing this to Biden. From the reports I have seen, none have even mentioned Biden or his involvement.
Biden will make a statement at noon.
Blockquote
President Biden—about an hour before he notified the world he was [dropping out of the presidential race]on July 21—called the prime minister of Slovenia, whose country was contributing two convicted Russian spies to the swap, to secure the pardon necessary for the deal to proceed. CIA Director William Burns traveled to Turkey last week to meet his counterpart there and finalize the logistics for the swap.
At the center of the deal was Krasikov, a convicted murderer that Russian President Vladimir Putin had been pushing to free since 2021. The former intelligence officer, a veteran of the Soviet-Afghan war, had shot and killed a Chechen rebel leader in a Berlin park, and was serving a life sentence.
Blockquote
Damn, this is a hell of a great thing!
I’ve thought a lot about the three you named (Gershkovich, Whalen and and Kara-Murza) and am so glad if their torment is over.
I’m sure Putin got bad people in return back, but this is more important, in my view.
And I’d have to imagine that Harris was involved in some aspect, even if it was just briefings.
MSNBC has the most detailed coverage. Of course Trump will say that if he was elected he would have them released immediately but the reporting is that the Berlin assassin was the key and Andrea Mitchell is saying that Biden has been trying to arrange this for two years and in March the Chancellor apparently told him “For you, I will do it”.
The countries involved are US, Germany, Norway, Poland, Slovenia, Russia , Belarus and Turkey which is where the exchange took place.
Of course he’ll say that, conveniently ignoring the fact that Whelan was imprisoned by Russia in 2018, and remained in custody for the final two full years of Trump’s presidency.
So Biden just gave his speech and sang happy birthday to a girl who turns 13 tomorrow and will have her mother home for her birthday. He took a few questions and the last was:
“What do you say to President Trump who said he could get them freed without any concessions?”
Biden just said
“Ask him why he didn’t do it when he was President”
:mic drop:
His speech was great but he still looks old and frail. I give him all the credit but still glad he passed the torch to Kamala and I’m supporting her extra hard to honor Biden.
Exactly right. At this point, I just hope he lasts until next January. Frankly, he doesn’t need to ‘do’ anything between now and then. A few soundbites like this one would be sufficient.
November 5th would do it for me.
I want to see him officially pass the torch to Kamala.
Jake Sullivan is speaking for the administration now. He is always remarkable to me in his ability to stick to a point without answering the idiotic press . I hope he continues to serve in the Harris administration.
Trump can always try and get Marc Fogel back. I bet Putin kept him back to give Trump a card to play.