Welcome to POLITICO’s West Wing Playbook, your guide to the people and power centers in the Biden administration. With help from Allie Bice. Send tips | Subscribe here | Email Alex | Email Max With help from Nahal Toosi and Alex Ward The White House announced today that JOE BIDEN spoke on the phone with BRITTNEY GRINER’s wife about the WNBA star’s detention in Russia and was sending her a letter as well. It was the first public recognition of Biden's direct contact with the Griner family. But behind the scenes, U.S. officials and advocates for Griner have been working on the case more aggressively than many want to publicly let on, sources told West Wing Playbook and NatSec Daily. (Read our first part on this here.) MICKEY BERGMAN, the vice president and executive director at the Richardson Center, said there were “many moving parts,” and people like himself who are privy to sensitive information about the case needed to be “very careful” not to compromise ongoing efforts. Bergman, who works alongside former New Mexico Gov. BILL RICHARDSON to help secure the release of Americans detained abroad, is part of a formal and informal network aiming to bring back Griner and PAUL WHELAN, the security contractor accused by Russia of espionage. Multiple people involved said that the effort is largely being spearheaded by Griner’s professional basketball representative LINDSAY KAGAWA COLAS. The powerful sports agent represents some of the biggest WNBA stars, including MAYA MOORE , whose husband Colas helped free from prison several years ago. Colas has been working behind the scenes with CHERELLE GRINER, Brittney’s wife, who has become the public face of the campaign to secure her release. Bergman told West Wing Playbook that Griner’s family quietly got in touch with the Richardson Center in late February when the WNBA star was first detained over what Russia says was possession of hash cartridges. Richardson and Bergman had just returned from Moscow, where they met with Russian government officials to advocate for the release of Whelan and former Marine TREVOR REED. Bergman suggested Cherelle Griner get in touch with the office of ROGER CARSTENS, special envoy for hostage affairs. But they did not start working with the family until April, when Griner’s team began a more public effort to get her released. Bergman said he and Richardson are also in communication with the White House about the issue. But there is tension between the two units. The Biden administration has looked at Richardson with some annoyance, viewing the freelance diplomatic efforts as a bit of a publicity stunt and an occasional complication with official efforts. Still, the Richardson team has been credited with playing a role in the release of Reed earlier this year. And the administration publicly thanked Richardson for helping secure the release of DANNY FENSTER from Myanmar. “NSC leadership are in touch with Bill Richardson,” said a spokesperson for the National Security Council. “We appreciate his commitment to getting Americans home and are pursuing this through government channels.” Despite the official efforts, U.S. officials and people familiar with Griner’s situation believe she will likely remain a prisoner of Russia for at least a few more months as Russia seeks maximum concessions from the U.S. The key for Russia is VIKTOR BOUT , a Russian citizen convicted in 2011 of offering to sell weapons to U.S. federal agents posing as representatives of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. Russia has been intent on securing his release for years, and has previously sought him in exchange for other detainees. Whereas those efforts were unsuccessful, a former U.S. official familiar with the issue said the Russians now have more leverage. “All the pressure is going on Biden while the pressure should be on Putin,” the official said. All of this has made the family and allies of Bout “cautiously optimistic” about the situation. Bout’s lawyer, STEVE ZISSOU, said he has been encouraged by increasing calls he’s getting from reporters as Griner’s case has gotten more attention, and has been pleased by some of the high-profile advocates calling for a prisoner swap. The attorney has reached out to a number of people in Griner’s camp, including her agent, but he said he has not received responses. He does not hear from U.S. government officials involved in securing the release of detainees, noting the State Department has advised families of Americans detained in Russia against having contact with him. “When you represent someone called the ‘Merchant of Death,’ people don't want to return your phone calls,” he said. Zissou said through regular communication with Russian officials, he’s convinced that commuting Bout’s sentence would result in Griner’s release. “The Russians have made it clear to me, the ambassador to the U.S. has made it clear to me that the Russians are not resting until Viktor is home as well,” he said. TEXT US — Are you ROGER CARSTENS, special envoy for hostage affairs? We still want to hear from you! And we’ll keep you anonymous if you’d like. Or if you think we missed something in today’s edition, let us know and we may include it tomorrow. Email us at westwingtips@politico.com or you can text/Signal/Wickr Alex at 8183240098.
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