Brittney Griner walks hand and hand with wife Cherelle Watson. Photo: Douglas P. DeFelice/Getty Images
Brittney Griner's wife Cherelle Griner told "CBS Mornings" that President Biden hasn't responded to the WNBA star's recent letter to the White House, adding that the government needs to do more to help her wife.
Driving the news: “I will not be quiet anymore,” she told CBS. “I will find that balance of harm versus help in pushing our government to do everything that’s possible. Because being quiet, they are not moving.”
Catch up quick: Brittney Griner wrote a letter to President Biden that was delivered Monday asking him to help her and other American detainees in Russia, Axios' Ivana Saric writes.
- “I realize you are dealing with so much, but please don’t forget about me and the other American Detainees. Please do all you can to bring us home,” Griner wrote in the letter.
Yes, but: Cherelle Griner told CBS she has "not heard from him. And honestly, it’s very disheartening."
- “It kills me every time," she added.
- Cherelle Griner told CBS her wife likely wrote the president “because of the failed attempts that we have had as a family."
The big picture: National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson told Axios in a statement that Biden's team is in contact with Brittney Griner's family.
- Watson said national security adviser Jake Sullivan and Secretary of State Antony Blinken have spoken with Cherelle Griner in recent weeks.
- "The White House is closely coordinating with the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs, who has met with Brittney’s family, her teammates and her support network.”
Cherelle Griner previously told the Rev. Al Sharpton her wife is "struggling" and feeling "terrified" in Russian custody.
- "Everything about this is your big biggest nightmare, on top of the fact that BG is in a situation where this isn't even a trial. ... Nothing about this is justice," she added.
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