White House says it's working to bring Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich home: 'Will not let up'
The White House said on Tuesday it’s actively working to bring home Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who has been detained in Russia for 250 days.
Gershkovich’s parents, Ella Milman and Mikhail Gershkovich, called for President Biden to make good on his promise and bring home their son earlier in the day on "FOX & Friends."
The White House maintains it has been working to do just that.
"Evan’s family is going through something unimaginable. As we work to secure Evan’s release and the release of fellow American Paul Whelan, we are regularly in contact at senior levels with the Russian government about these cases. We have made multiple proposals, and we are constantly discussing this issue with third countries who can assist. Not a week goes by without intensive activity. We will not let up and will continue to pursue every avenue to bring them home," a White House spokesperson told Fox News Digital.
A senior Biden administration official told Fox News Digital that officials, including National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, are meeting regularly in person with representatives for Gershkovich’s family to keep them apprised of efforts to secure his release.
The senior administration official also said the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs met with Evan’s parents on Nov. 29.
On "FOX & Friends," Milman had acknowledged being in touch with the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs, but said they "don’t know anything about a real effort" to bring her son home.
"If they work as hard as President Biden promised us, and to this day nothing has been done. It’s been 250 days and this is very clear, Evan is an American journalist," Milman said. "He’s sitting in Lefortovo prison."
Earlier this month, Gershovich suffered a setback when his pre-trial detention in Russia was extended into 2024.
Arrested in Yekaterinburg and detained since March 29 on spying charges, Gershovich will remain imprisoned until at least January 30, 2024. Russian authorities claim Gershkovich "acting on the instructions of the American side, collected information constituting a state secret about the activities of one of the enterprises of the Russian military-industrial complex."
The Biden administration has designated Gershkovich "wrongfully detained" and repeatedly called for his release, and both the U.S. government and the Wall Street Journal have called the spying charges absurd. It is widely believed the Russians detained the reporter to both suppress journalism in the country and pick up a bargaining chip in a future prisoner exchange.
Steve Doocy told Milman she must "know" her son is not a spy, especially considering he worked in the newsroom a few floors above the "FOX & Friends" studio.
"We’re not spies, people are journalists," Doocy said. "But that’s the cover story to keep him in jail. It’s got to be heartbreaking that we, the United States, have not been able to spring him yet."
Gershkovich faces decades in prison if convicted on the spying charges in Russia's notoriously closed and corrupt justice system. Experts believe his best hope for freedom will be a prisoner swap with the United States.
President Biden said, "We ain’t giving up," when asked about Gershkovich on Thanksgiving.