Former Marine Trevor Reid attributed President Biden’s release from Russia after more than two years in prison in his first televised interview since returning home.
The Biden administration secured Reid’s release by exchanging prisoners for a Russian man imprisoned in the United States for drug trafficking.
“He is the man who played the most important role in this decision,” Reed told Biden during an exclusive interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper on Sunday night.
“And I think President Biden did the right thing,” he added.
Reed was sentenced to nine years in prison for allegedly assaulting an officer while drunk in 2019.
Reed’s family had been advocating for his release for years, and finally met with President Biden in March.
“And a lot of people won’t like what I’m going to say about it, but I kind of looked at it – to have hope as a weakness,” Reed told Tapper about his way of thinking while in prison.
“So I didn’t want to have that hope of being released in any way and then being taken away from me,” he added. “I couldn’t afford to hope.”
After his release, Reed joined in demanding the release of other illegally detained Americans, especially Paul Whelan, another former Marine who was arrested in Moscow in 2018 and arrested on espionage charges, which he denies.
“When they told me I was leaving, I thought Paul was leaving with me, and when I found out they had left, it was difficult,” Reed told Tapper. “The fact is that the United States had to get him out, and we have to get him out at all costs.
In a statement issued by his family, Whelan said after Reed’s release: “Why was I abandoned?”
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“While I’m happy that Trevor is home with his family, I’ve been held on a fictitious charge of espionage for 40 months,” he told CNN.
WNBA star Britney Greener also remains in prison in Russia, accused of possessing marijuana supplies at the airport.
The United States said earlier this month that it considered her “illegally detained” by the Russian government, which was signaling a change in the way she would work to bring her home.
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