The former Russian arms dealer, whom the Biden administration traded in exchange for WNBA star Brittney Griner, is reportedly running for office in Russia.
56-year-old Viktor Bout, also known as the “Merchant of Death,” has joined the country’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and is now running to be elected to the regional legislature. The LDP currently holds 23 of the 450 seats in Russia’s legislature.
Bout is a former Soviet military officer who was arrested in 2008 in Thailand. He was charged in the U.S. for conspiring to kill Americans and providing support to terrorists.
“Bout, a former Soviet military officer, was serving a 25-year prison sentence in the United States on charges of conspiring to kill Americans, acquire and export anti-aircraft missiles, and provide material support to a terrorist organization,” CNN reported of the former prisoner.
Bout served just 10 years of his 25-year sentence in the U.S. and was freed in December of last year as part of a prisoner swap for Griner, who was sentenced to nine years in a Russian prison for possession of vape cartridges containing cannabinoids.
The controversial prisoner put the Biden administration in a bad light, with many noting that the Biden administration valued an athlete over a former serviceman, namely former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan.
Whelan is currently being held in Russia on a 16-year prison sentence after being accused of espionage in 2018.
“What kind of a deal is it to swap Brittney Griner, a basketball player who openly hates our country, for the man known as ‘The Merchant of Death,’ who is one of the biggest arms dealers anywhere in the World, and responsible for tens of thousands of deaths and horrific injuries,” former President Trump Donald Trump wrote in a Truth Social post late last year.
“Why wasn’t former Marine Paul Whelan included in this totally one-sided transaction?” Trump continued. “He would have been let out for the asking. What a “stupid” and unpatriotic embarrassment for the USA!!!”
The Biden administration, in response, said that Russia treated Whelan’s case differently than Griner’s because of the espionage allegations against him.
