Former CIA chief: Prisoner swap a ‘remarkable display’ of ‘successful’ diplomacy by Biden administration

Former CIA Director John Brennan said Thursday’s prisoner swap that freed Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich is a “remarkable display” of “successful” diplomacy by the Biden administration.

“It’s an unprecedented deal,” Brennan said on MSNBC’s “Deadline: White House” to anchor Ali Velshi. “And it is a remarkable display of very effective and successful statecraft and diplomacy by the Biden-Harris administration.”

Gershkovich, alongside former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, Alsu Kurmasheva, Vladimir Kara-Murza, five Germans and seven Russians, were released in the swap Thursday.

“This is the continuation of the ongoing dialogue between the United States and Russia about getting individuals released,” Brennan said.

In a statement Thursday, President Biden said, “We celebrate the return of Paul, Evan, Alsu, and Vladimir and rejoice with their families.”

“We remember all those still wrongfully detained or held hostage around the world. And reaffirm our pledge to their families: We see you,” Biden continued. “We are with you. And we will never stop working to bring your loved ones home where they belong.”

In a Thursday letter, the Journal’s editor-in-chief Emma Tucker said that her paper is “grateful to President Biden and his administration for working with persistence and determination to bring Evan home rather than see him shipped off to a Russian work camp for a crime he didn’t commit.”

“We are also grateful to the other governments that helped bring an end to Evan’s nightmare, in particular the German government that played such a critical role,” Tucker continued in the letter.