“[As]sitting here in a Russian prison, alone with my thoughts and without the protection of my wife, family, friends, Olympic jersey or any accomplishments, I fear that I might be here forever,” she wrote to a statement released by the communications company representing the Griner family.
Griner’s supporters and US officials say she was wrongly imprisoned and have called for her release amid growing fears she is being used as a political pawn amid rising tensions between Russia and the US.
Griner’s letter to Biden was delivered to the White House Monday morning, according to the communications company. Three excerpts from the letter were released while the rest is being kept private, the statement said.
“On July 4th, our family typically honors the service of those who fought for our freedom, including my father, who is a Vietnam War veteran. It hurts to think of how I usually celebrate this day because freedom means a whole different year to me,” Griner wrote to Biden.
“I realize that you are involved in so much, but please don’t forget about me and the other American prisoners. Please do everything you can to bring us home. I voted for the first time in 2020 and I voted for you. i believe in you I still have so much good to do with my freedom that you can help restore it. I miss my wife! I miss my family! I miss my teammates! It kills me to know they are suffering right now. I am grateful for anything you can do at this moment to bring me home.”
Biden read the handwritten letter, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said on Tuesday.
“We’re going to use every tool we can” to bring Griner home, she added.
The White House reiterated Monday that “the Russian Federation is wrongly holding Brittney Griner.”
“President Biden has made it clear that all US citizens held hostage or wrongfully detained abroad must be released, including Brittney Griner. The US government continues to work aggressively — by any means available — to bring them home,” National Das said, Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson told CNN.
“The President’s team is in regular contact with Brittney’s family and we will continue to work to support her family,” Watson said, adding that National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and Secretary of State Antony Blinken “have met Brittney’s wife on a number of occasions in recent weeks.” have spoken and the White House is working closely with the President’s Special Envoy for Hostage Affairs, who has met with Brittney’s family, her teammates and her support network.
In the only interview she gave on the eve of her wife’s trial in Russia, Cherelle Griner sat in the Phoenix Mercury dressing room and called for more action.
“It’s really, really difficult. This is not a situation where rhetoric matches action,” she said. “Unfortunately, I have to push people to make sure the things they tell me are consistent with their actions and that’s why it was the hardest part to keep the balance because I can’t let go. It’s been over 130 days and BG still hasn’t gotten their backs.”
“Not a day goes by that we don’t think of Brittney and work to bring her home,” Arizona Democratic Rep. Greg Stanton, who supported the resolution, said in a statement. “We will continue to press for her release and make sure she is not forgotten.”
Stanton was previously the mayor of Phoenix, where Griner plays for the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury.
Stanton introduced the resolution in May along with Democrats Sheila Jackson Lee and Colin Allred of Texas, Griner’s home state.
“I am grateful for this overwhelming support from Congress. We must do everything we can to keep Brittney’s case on the front lines and finally bring this nightmare to an end,” Cherelle Griner said in a statement at the time.
Vanessa Nygaard, the Phoenix Mercury’s freshman year head coach, responded to Griner’s letter Monday during a press conference in Los Angeles ahead of her team’s game against the Sparks.
“It made me cry, you know, just hearing her words about her father being a Vietnam veteran, her new perspective on freedom, her desire to be with her family and her teammates , her ignorance of whether she will ever be free again On our freedom day to hear those words from someone so loved… It’s great, and it’s great that she was able to get this message across to us, and hopefully some people are paying attention and Of course, if the Biden government and our State Department put that at the top of their messages, that would be amazing for us,” Nygaard said.
The Mercury announced last week that a special public rally in support of Griner will be held Wednesday at the Footprint Center in Phoenix. The event will be hosted in coordination with Stanton’s office and Cherelle Griner will be a keynote speaker.
CORRECTION: A previous version of this story misspelled Brittney Griner’s first name.
That story was updated Tuesday with a response from the White House.
CNN’s Abby Phillip, Steve Almasy, Homero De la Fuente, Rachel Janfaza, Kevin Liptak, Maegan Vazquez, and Jill Martin contributed to this report.