Maria and Julio discuss the release of WNBA star Brittney Griner from a Russian penal colony in exchange for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout. They also get into Senator Raphael Warnock’s win in the Georgia runoff election, and the news of the Trump Organization being found guilty on multiple charges of tax fraud and falsifying business records.

ITT Staff Picks:

• Orion Rummler spoke to Black LGBTQ+ women and nonbinary leaders about the significance of Brittney Griner’s release, for The 19th.

• Politico interviewed Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema about her decision to switch her party affiliation to independent, and what that means for the future of the Senate.

• “It remains to be seen whether Trump could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue in New York and not lose any voters, as he once boasted, but he evidently can preside over entities that engage in brazen tax fraud—out of a Fifth Avenue office, no less—and for all practical purposes get away with it,” writes Daniel Hemel in this piece org-tax-fraud-convictions-impact-nothingburger.html">for Slate.

Photo credit: AP Photo/Rick Scuteri, File