State Department: ‘No higher priority’ than bringing Paul Whelan, Evan Gershkovich home

State Department Spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters at a press briefing on Monday that even though details are kept confidential, his department had “no higher priority” than bringing detained Paul Whelan and Evan Gershkovich safely home from their wrongful detainment in Russia. Russian authorities detained Whelan in 2018 on accusations of espionage and sentenced him to 16 years in prison. Gershkovich, whose parents fled the Soviet Union, was detained on the same charges in March.