Yesterday we learned that Brittney Griner had called her wife 11 times while she continues being detained in Russia.
Unfortunately, due to a staffing issue, the attempts were all unsuccessful.
Today, the White House acknowledged the error and stated that the call will take place.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters that the State Department was arranging a new call between the couple but didn’t say when.
State Department spokesman Ned Price said that a “logistical error” prevented the connection from happening, but reiterated that they’re working quickly to fix the situation.
The call was supposed to have transpired on Saturday, the couple’s fourth anniversary. It would have been the first time they would have spoken since Brittney Griner was detained in Russia on drug charges in mid-February.
The call was supposed to be routed through the American embassy in Russia, which would patch the call through to Cherelle.
But Cherelle told the AP on Monday that the call didn’t come through.
She later learned of her wife’s attempted 11 calls, but that no one picked up because the desk was unstaffed on Saturday.
Price noted that the issue was compounded because of restrictions placed on the embassy and its operations by the Russian government.
“This was an unfortunate mistake,” Jean-Pierre said Tuesday, adding that, “the Department of State is working to rectify this as quickly as possible.”
Brittney Griner’s plight is well known.
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