WASHINGTON (CN) — In a rare bipartisan move, top lawmakers from the House and Senate on Friday called on Russia to release detained journalist Evan Gershkovich and other American citizens they said Moscow is wrongfully holding.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell joined House Speaker Mike Johnson and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries in demanding Gershkovich be released. The lawmakers again condemned the reporter’s “baseless arrest, fabricated charges and unjust imprisonment.”
Saturday marks one year since Gershkovich, who works for the Wall Street Journal and has lived in Russia since 2017, was detained and charged with espionage. Gershkovich, who is awaiting trial in a Russian court, could spend up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
Moscow has rejected recent attempts from Washington to arrange a prisoner swap that would free Gershkovich, but has signaled that it will try to use the reporter as leverage to secure the release of Russian detainees held in the West.
Acknowledging the somber anniversary of the reporter's detainment, congressional leaders stood firm with Gershkovich and other journalists covering Russia and its war in Ukraine.
“Journalism is not a crime, and reporters are not bargaining chips,” the lawmakers wrote. “The Kremlin’s attempts to silence Evan and intimidate other Western reporters will not impede the pursuit of truth.”
The House and Senate leaders also took aim at Russian President Vladimir Putin, accusing him of “restoring Soviet-style control through repression at home and aggression abroad.”
Other lawmakers chimed in Friday to call on Russia to free Gershkovich.
“That Evan was detained in the first place is outrageous,” wrote Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen in a post on X, formerly Twitter. “[T]hat he’s still behind bars is unconscionable.”
California Representative Young Kim urged the Biden administration in a statement to secure Gershkovich’s release “along with other Americans unjustly held around the world.”
Gershkovich isn’t the only U.S. citizen currently behind bars in Russia. The Kremlin in October jailed Radio Free Europe reporter Alsu Kurmasheva, and former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan has been held by Russia since 2018.
Washington has made several overtures to Moscow aimed at securing the release of Gershkovich and the other American detainees.
Following the death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny in prison earlier this year, reports emerged that the U.S. had been working on an offer to release an FSB security service assassin held in Germany in exchange for Navalny and two American citizens. The deal appears to have dissolved with Navalny’s death.
In an interview last month with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, Putin suggested that Gershkovich could be part of a future prisoner swap. The Russian leader nodded towards Vadim Krasikov, the FSB assassin, as a candidate for such an exchange.
Gershkovich, 32, joined the Wall Street Journal in 2022 after a stint at the Russia-based Moscow Times. He was detained by the Kremlin in March 2023 while reporting in Yekaterinburg, a city in central Russia near the Kazakhstan border.
The Federal Security Bureau, Russia’s intelligence ministry, accused the journalist of acting as an American spy and collecting information on Russian state secrets. Both the White House and the Wall Street Journal have repeatedly said the charges are baseless.
Gershkovich is being held at the Lefortovo Prison in Moscow, an infamous site formerly used by the Soviet KGB, while he awaits trial. Russian authorities have repeatedly delayed his trial date — most recently this week.
Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal’s front page Friday morning featured a massive blank space with the headline “His Story Should be Here,” as the paper again called for Gershkovich’s release.
Follow @BenjaminSWeiss
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