Brittney Griner’s Scheduled Call With Wife Derailed By Understaffed U.S. Embassy

The wife of detained WNBA star Brittney Griner says she never got her scheduled call with Griner because the U.S. Embassy in Russia is understaffed.

Cherelle Griner was looking forward to speaking with Brittney, who she had not spoken with in four months since her arrest in Russia. Russian authorities approved Brittney’s call, and it was scheduled to take place on Saturday. It was particularly special since it marked the couple’s fourth wedding anniversary.

Sadly, the day came and went without a word from Brittney, but according to her legal team, she tried hard to speak with her wife. According to her lawyer, Brittney dialed a U.S. embassy assigned number that was supposed to connect them to one another. However, Brittney tried 11 times to use the number, but the calls never went through. The desk at the embassy where the phone was to ring and then connect her to Cherelle was supposedly unmanned.

“I find it unacceptable, and I have zero trust in our government right now,” Cherelle told The Associated Press. “If I can’t trust you to catch a Saturday call outside of business hours, how can I trust you to actually be negotiating on my wife’s behalf to come home?” She explained that the experience left her not wanting to speak with anyone and says she is “still not well.”

Brittney Griner has been in Russian custody since February 17th, accused of possessing vape cartridges containing marijuana oil in her luggage while passing through Sheremetyevo International Airport. Her pretrial detention was recently extended until July 2nd, having already been extended twice before.

While she has been communicating via emails and letters, not many people have had an opportunity to speak with Brittney directly.