White House defends contact with family of Paul Whelan

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Thursday declined to say whether President Biden has plans to call the family of Paul Whelan, a U.S. citizen detained in Russia, but said that administration officials have been in regular contact with the Whelan family. 

“The president is getting regularly updated,” Jean-Pierre told reporters at a White House briefing. “This is top of mind.” 

Jean-Pierre’s comments followed criticism from Elizabeth Whelan, Paul Whelan’s sister, who voiced disappointment Wednesday that Biden had not called her family after he phoned the wife of American basketball star Brittney Griner, who is also detained in Russia.  

Jean-Pierre said she didn’t have a call between Biden and the Whelan family to “announce or to preview” but she described regular contact between the administration and the family.  

Jean-Pierre said that White House staff joined Special Envoy for Hostage Affairs Roger Carstens on a call with Elizabeth Whelan on Wednesday and said White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Carsten’s office and consular officials are also in contact with the family.  

“We want to assure them and the Whelans and the Griner family and all other U.S. nationals who are being wrongfully detained or held hostage abroad that this president is doing everything he can to make sure that they come home safely,” Jean-Pierre said.  

Elizabeth Whelan tweeted Wednesday that she was “crushed” that Biden hasn’t phoned her family after news broke that Biden and Vice President Harris had called Cherelle Griner. She later clarified that she did not “begrudge” the Griners’ access to Biden. 

Whelan was detained in Russia at the end of 2018 on espionage charges that he denies. The U.S. government maintains that he, like Griner, is being wrongfully held by Moscow. Whelan was sentenced to 16 years in prison in 2020.  

Griner’s case has attracted intense national attention in part due to her WNBA career. She was detained at an airport in February after Russian authorities claimed to have found vape cartridges with hashish oil in her luggage. Griner pleaded guilty to drug charges on Thursday, according to reports, but maintained she did not intend to break the law. She faces up to 10 years in jail.  

The Biden administration’s handling of hostage cases has attracted scrutiny since officials secured the release of Trevor Reed, a former U.S. Marine detained in Russia since 2019 who was in poor health, by way of a prisoner swap in April. Reed’s parents demonstrated outside a Biden event in Texas and, later, outside the White House and eventually secured a one-on-one meeting with Biden in March.  

At the time, David Whelan, Paul Whelan’s brother, commended the release of Reed but questioned the administration’s commitment to freeing his brother.