Brittney Griner's long-awaited phone call with her wife was bungled by a State Department 'logistical error'

• WNBA superstar Brittney Griner has been detained in Russia on drug charges since February.
• Her wife, Cherelle, had plans to speak with Griner for the first time in 100+ days on Saturday.

A State Department "logistical error" botched plans for Brittney Griner and her wife, Cherelle, to speak for the first time in more than 100 days.

The WNBA superstar has been wrongfully detained in Russia since her February 17 arrest, when officials accused her of traveling with a vape cartridge in her luggage. She was finally set to hear her wife's voice on Saturday for their fourth wedding anniversary.

But the phone call, which had been in the works for several weeks, never came to fruition after staffers the US Embassy in Moscow failed to answer the phone to patch Griner through to her wife.

The seven-time WNBA All-Star dialed the number she was provided 11 times over several hours in an attempt to reach Cherelle, the Associated Press reported. Cherelle believed that finally hearing her wife's voice would allow her "to truly know if she's okay or to know if she's seconds away from not being in existence anymore."

"This was such a big moment because this would have been the first time where I truly could tell if she's OK," Cherelle told the AP. "This would have been the first time for me to actually just hear her in real time."

A State Department spokesperson told Insider that "we deeply regret that Brittney Griner was unable to speak with her wife because of a logistical error." During a press briefing Tuesday afternoon, US State Department Spokesperson Ned Price explained that the issue impacting their phone call was "compounded in part by the fact that our embassy in Moscow is under significant restrictions" due to ongoing tensions over Russia's war in Ukraine.

Price also confirmed that "the call has been rescheduled and will take place in relatively short order."

Cherelle initially suspected that she and her wife were unable to connect due to interference on the Russian side. But she told the AP she "was distraught. I was hurt. I was done, fed up" when she eventually learned that the phone Griner repeatedly dialed at the US Embassy in Moscow had not been staffed.

"We deeply regret that Brittney Griner was unable to speak with her wife because of a logistical error," a State Department spokesperson told Insider. "We have no higher priority than the safety and security of US citizens overseas."

"We remain in regular contact with the families of those held hostage or wrongfully detained; we are grateful for their partnership and feedback; and we continue to work to ensure we are communicating and sharing information in a way useful to our families," the spokesperson added.

'I have zero trust in our government right now'

But for Cherelle, who has repeatedly pleaded for President Joe Biden and his administration to take action on her wife's behalf, the heartbreaking blunder was enough to demolish any goodwill she had left with American officials.

"I find it unacceptable and I have zero trust in our government right now," Cherelle told the AP. "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? Because that's a much bigger ask than to catch a Saturday call."

The US government has repeatedly assured Griner's loved ones that her release is a top priority. But the State Department's error is just the latest misstep that has cast doubt on their efforts to bring her home.

Despite several public requests to meet with Biden or members of his administration, Cherelle has yet to discuss her wife's situation with the president. And while she told the AP that she's still hopeful she can connect with Biden or Vice President Kamala Harris, Cherelle concedes that "at this point it's starting to feel like a no."

Aron Solomon, who serves as chief legal analyst for Esquire Digital, told Insider that "the debacle that was this weekend's failed phone call speaks volumes" about the seriousness and urgency with which the government is handling Griner's case.

"I can't disagree with her," Solomon said, referring to Cherelle's expressed distrust of US officials. "The government has shown only a passive, reactive stance."

"I keep asking myself whether the US government would be pursuing this same strategy were it [NBA superstar] Kyrie Irving who was wrongfully detained," he added. "And I keep landing at absolutely not."

Griner's agent, Lindsay Kagawa Colas, declined to comment on whether the State Department mix-up has impacted her confidence in the government's approach to her client's case. She instead directed Insider to her most recent tweet, in which she wrote that "My heart breaks into pieces every time I think of" Griner's calls going unanswered.

"If #BrittneyGriner is a priority, @POTUS will meet with Brittney's family and this Administration will do what is necessary to get her home swiftly and safely," Colas added in a subsequent post.

—Lindsay Kagawa Colas (she/her) (@kagawacolas) June 21, 2022

Russian courts still have not set a date for the two-time Olympic gold medalist's trial. Griner's detainment was extended for the second time in a month-long span on June 15, keeping the Phoenix Mercury center in foreign custody until at least July 2.

But Solomon previously told Insider that the new deadline was "as fictitious as any other date" and expressed serious doubts that Griner's case would ever go to trial.

"Anyone still taking Russia's word for anything in the Griner case is being foolish," he said. "This 'hearing' will never happen."

"She will either be clandestinely found guilty and sent to prison camp or she will be in a prisoner swap," he added.