The Biden administration is pushing back on claims by ex-Trump administration figures who have suggested Russia was willing to release former US Marine Paul Whelan before President Joe Biden was elected in 2020.
Mr Whelan has been held captive by Russia since 28 December 2018, when he was arrested on what officials there said were charges of espionage. Although members of Mr Whelan’s family were able to secure at least one meeting with Mr Trump’s then-national security adviser, John Bolton, in mid-2019, the former president never once mentioned Mr Whelan’s name during his time in office and Trump administration officials never made any concerted public push to draw attention to Mr Whelan’s plight or call for him to be freed.
