(Headline USA) Critics torched Vice President Kamala Harris this week after she lamented Russia’s decision to sentence WNBA player Brittany Griner to nine years in prison for illegally bringing marijuana into the country.
“With today’s sentencing, Russia continues its wrongful detention of Brittney Griner. She should be released immediately,” Harris said in a statement.
With today’s sentencing, Russia continues its wrongful detention of Brittney Griner. She should be released immediately. @POTUS and I, and our entire Administration, are working every day to reunite Brittney, as well as Paul Whelan, with loved ones who miss each of them dearly.
— Vice President Kamala Harris (@VP) August 4, 2022
As San Francisco’s district attorney and California’s attorney general, Harris prosecuted people for less, critics pointed out. In fact, she oversaw thousands of marijuana-related prosecutions and was an outspoken opponent of marijuana legalization.
Brittney Griner got 9 years for drug possession in Russia… which sounds like most of the criminal sentences Kamala Harris got people for the same thing when she was Attorney General of California.
— Tim Young (@TimRunsHisMouth) August 4, 2022
During Harris’s tenure as San Francisco’s district attorney between 2004 and 2010, her office handled more than 1,900 marijuana convictions.
As California’s attorney general, she oversaw the prosecutions of another 1,970 people for marijuana offenses. Harris also vocally opposed California’s marijuana legalization ballot initiative, which passed in 2016.
She didn’t change her stance on marijuana legalization until 2018, when she was gearing up to launch her 2020 presidential bid.
Griner’s conviction was met with condemnation from President Joe Biden, who slammed it as “unacceptable” and demanded that Russia release and return Griner to the U.S. “immediately.”
“My administration will continue to work tirelessly and pursue every possible avenue to bring Brittney and Paul Whelan home safely as soon as possible,” he said.
That apparently includes releasing a deadly Russian arms-dealing terrorist in a swap for Griner.
