Republican lawmakers on Thursday criticized President Biden for a deal that returned WNBA star Brittney Griner from a Russian prison camp, but failed to free Paul Whelan, a U.S. Marine veteran who has been jailed in Russia since 2018 on spying charges that the U.S. government has said are baseless.

In return for Griner, the U.S. agreed to send convicted Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, known as the "Merchant of Death," back to Russia. Several Republicans said that was a bad deal given the serious charges against Bout, and that Biden missed a chance to get Whelan.

"If @POTUS is going to release a guy convicted of providing aid to a terrorist organization & conspiring to kill American citizens, he should have at least gotten BOTH Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan in return," tweeted Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y. "A U.S. Marine is left behind in another bad deal made by Biden."

BRITTNEY GRINER RELEASED FROM RUSSIAN PRISON IN SWAP FOR CONVICTED ARMS DEALER

"Where is U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, who has been unjustly held by Russia for far longer?" tweeted Rep. Mike Waltz, R-Fla. "Celebrities over veterans?"

"SO @POTUS just traded an enemy who smuggles guns and helps shoot Americans for an American who smuggles drugs and shoots basketballs, all while a former US Marine, Paul Whelan, rots in a Russian prison," tweeted Rep. Scott Perry, R-PA. "Let that sink in."

"President Biden just gave Russia its ‘Merchant of Death’ back while U.S. Marine Paul Whelan is left locked up in a Russian prison," tweeted Rep. Lisa McClain, R-Mich. "We need justice for Paul. He should be on that plane coming home too."

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A Republican who just won a seat in the November midterm election, John Block of New Mexico, ripped the deal and said it favors Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"The Biden regime literally swapped Brittney Griner for Viktor Bout (the Merchant of Death) in Russia," he tweeted. "Can’t make this stuff up… Biden just gave Putin exactly what he wanted."

Other Republicans were less critical but said there is more work to do to get Whelan and other Americans home. "I will continue my work with @RepHaleyStevens until all Americans wrongfully detained abroad are free," tweeted Rep. French Hill, R-Ark.

Some House Democrats made similar points. Texas Rep. Colin Allred agreed that the U.S. "must remain committed to getting every American detained abroad back home."

WHO IS VIKTOR BOUT, RUSSIA'S ‘MERCHANT OF DEATH’ FREED IN PRISONER SWAP FOR BRITTNEY GRINER?

"While we are very happy that Brittany Griner is returning home, we cannot forget we still have Americans unlawfully detained in Russia – specifically Paul Whelan," tweeted Rep. Bill Keating, D-Mass. "I have been in touch with his family, and they and Paul deserve all of our country’s efforts to bring him home."

Reps. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., Barbara Lee, D-Calif., Andy Levin, D-Mich., all tweeted that more work is needed to ensure the safe return of all Americans.

Elon Musk's latest "Twitter Files" drop has left more liberal journalists fuming, after the new Twitter owner unexpectedly fired former FBI General Counsel James Baker from the company in developments revealed Tuesday.

Substack journalist Matt Taibbi announced that the drop of internal documents was delayed due to discovering that Baker had been "vetting" the documents beforehand, without Musk's knowledge. 

The former FBI official expressed support for censoring the Hunter Biden laptop story in the first set of Twitter Files Taibbi released last week. While at the bureau, Baker worked under former Director James Comey and played a key role in the Russia collusion investigation involving Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. 

TWITTER ABLAZE AS ELON MUSK FIRES LAWYER INVOLVED IN SUPPRESSING LAPTOP STORY, ‘RUSSIAN COLLUSION HOAX’

Musk wrote on Twitter, "In light of concerns about Baker’s possible role in suppression of information important to the public dialogue, he was exited from Twitter today."

The news prompted a variety of reactions online. Conservative pundits cheered Musk for "cleaning house" while Republicans called for Baker to testify before Congress. 

But some liberal media figures saw nothing wrong with Baker's involvement in looking over the documents that detailed how the company chose to suppress the Hunter Biden laptop story in October of 2020.

Mother Jones reporter Dan Friedman suggested Baker was "just a guy with a tough job" who was unfairly maligned.

"Jim Baker was involved in various controversies because he was the FBI's general counsel. Is he "something of a Zelig" or just a guy with a tough job? Baker has been the subject of mch innuedo like this, but not been found to have leaked anything."

ELON MUSK FIRES TWITTER LAWYER JIM BAKER, WHO WAS INVOLVED IN CENSORING HUNTER BIDEN LAPTOP AND RUSSIA PROBE

Former New Yorker journalist James Surowiecki mocked the idea he shouldn't have been involved. 

"A top lawyer at Twitter vetted the public release of files that contained material that might expose the company to legal liability, including with regard to privacy issues. That's really scandalous," he tweeted.

NBC News reporter Ben Collins also took the focus off Baker, writing, "The scandal here is that Elon Musk discovered who his company's deputy general counsel was six weeks after he purchased it."

New Republic reporter Matt Ford knocked the story as a non-scandal.

"Twitter’s general counsel had the unmitigated gall to review internal documents before they were publicly released," he tweeted.

Defense attorney and Substack author Ken White also downplayed the news, writing in a Twitter thread, "Wow this Jim Baker narrative from Musk & Taibbi is desperate and dumb."

In follow-up tweets he slammed Musk's "idiot audience" and mocked the latest news as "particularly dumb."

"But today’s new mini-update to the ‘scandal’ is particularly dumb. Oh, in-house general counsel looked through materials about a controversy before they were sent to the press? SHOCKING," he wrote.

Liberal news outlets who denounced the Hunter Biden laptop as Russian disinformation before the 2020 election have paid little attention to the latest bombshell Twitter developments.