Jen Psaki Defends Brittney Griner Trade For ‘Merchant of Death’: He Only Had Six Years Left to Serve Anyway

Former White House Press Secretary turned MSNBC host Jen Psaki is speaking out about Brittney Griner’s return home to the U.S. and the prisoner trade that has many divided.

On the Wednesday episode of Pod Save the World, Psaki joined host Ben Rhodes to discuss the latest in foreign affairs.

During the conversation, the recent release of Griner in exchange for notorious Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout was a hot topic.

“We’re in this kind of weird loop where the — this is increasing and you’re conflicted. ‘Cause giving up a guy like Viktor Bout is a high price,” Rhodes said.

“And yet like, you need to get people home. And the world is what it is. And we don’t pay ransoms here, so we end up with prisoner exchanges and swaps,” he added.

“How have your views of this issue — we’ve dealt with so many of these cases over the years — like how do you think about the choices that presidents ultimately have to make about whether and how to get people home?” he asked Psaki.

“I mean, probably some of the more difficult decisions presidents have to make — maybe aside from going to war or using military force. Because every deal is imperfect,” Psaki said.

“To get Brittney Griner home, you had to give up the ‘Merchant of Death,’ Right? Now granted he only had six years left on his — on his — the time he was supposed to serve. So I don’t know that it was as crazy as the Republicans conveyed,” she added.

Both agreed that had Bout been in the first year of his sentence, he would not have been part of the exchange.

“But every decision and every deal you make a calculus, right? That there’s gonna be something messy about it. And also in this case, they of course made the deal that didn’t include Paul Whelan, ’cause there wasn’t a deal to be made with Paul Whelan,” Psaki explained.

As the conversation continued, Psaki insisted, “These are human beings, right? An imperfect deal still means Brittney Griner is home with her family.”

Watch above via Pod Save the World.