washington. in russia they have an american bargaining chip with which to trade. in the meantime whelan s lawyer says he has applied for bail and believes his family members will be allowed to visit him in the prison in moscow. he warns the russian legal system can be slow and it may be up to six months before the case goes the trial. all right. lots going on. let s bring in our analyst and exerts. what s your sense of what s going on right now? you don t need to be an expert. this is a set up. you look at the change in the u.s. congress and the russians are following the change. relationship with the russians is getting more and more chilly. you look at the american law enforcement apparatus of arresting russians in this country. if you re loobi inlooking what americans are doing, i don t think this individual is a
is a. he is accused of killing ronil singh on christmas. tunnels to towers has raised nearly $240,000 for his wife and son. you can donate by heading to our website: man accused of spying in russia meets with huntsman. is he detained in moscow on espionage charges. the state department is demanding answers about the nature of when we alan s arrest and why it took so long to gain access to him. whelan s family claims he is not a spy and he was in russia to attend a wedding. bernie sanders sunday fire for his response to sexual harassment allegations during his 2016 campaign. i was running around the country trying to make the case. we did everything right in terms of human resources and addressing the needs. if i run we will do better
political circles. so, let s get to martha raddatz live with us tonight from our washington bureau. and martha, what are your sources telling you tonight? does the u.s. government believe this is retaliation for maria butina? reporter: well, some think it very well could be, david. the russians will likely present some kind of evidence, fabricated or not. already, a russian news agency is saying whelan was caught with a classified list of russian operatives. but if convicted, whelan could face up to 20 years in prison. david? all right, martha raddatz with us, as well. thank you, martha. the president making news tonight with what he said about defense secretary jim mattis. mattis, of course, resigning in protest. the president then telling him to leave immediately. the president told reporters today he gave secretary mattis new f-35 fighter jets and f-18s. general mattis was so thrilled, but what s he done for me? how has he done in afghanistan? not too good. and it wasn t
retaliation? abc s chief global affairs correspondent martha raddatz tonight with new reporting here. reporter: tonight, paul whelan sits in a notorious moscow prison, charged with spying. the u.s. ambassador to russia visited him today, telling whelan s family he was in good condition, but secretary of state mike pompeo wants answers. if the detention is not appropriate, we will demand his immediate return. reporter: whelan, who was kicked out of the marine corps ten years ago for attempted larceny, is the head of global security for a michigan auto parts company. he has visited russia multiple times and has a social media presence there, as well. this trip was personal, a friend s wedding. his brother says he is 100% certain his twin is not a spy. i can t think of any plausible reason that paul was arrested in russia. reporter: whelan s arrest follows on the heels of russian agent maria butina s guilty plea in the u.s. to charges of trying to infiltrate conservative
well, so far it does because the russian authorities haven t released any information about why they arrested mr. whelan. we ve seen this before. remember when putin met with donald trump in helsinki, right before then mr. mueller had indicted 13 russian intelligence officers. and so putin came to helsinki with this crazy scheme that a dozen americans had also committed crimes against the russian government. i know because i was on that list. and that s what it feels like until the russian government gives us an alternative way to understand this event. well, ned price, you re more familiar with this world than i am. just looking at the profile of what we know about this individual who the russians are claiming is a spy, does it from a profiling standpoint, does it fit what you might expect to see in a spy? the profile here, steve, fits the theory you were articulating before, a quid pro quo for maria butina. and i say that because the russians by arresting this