Biden calls family of reporter detained as spy in Russia

By COLLEEN LONG
Associated Press

ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE (AP) — President Joe Biden has spoken to the parents of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, the Moscow-based journalist detained in Russia and charged with espionage. Biden spoke to Gershkovich’s parents on Tuesday as he flew to Belfast to start a four-day trip to Northern Ireland and Ireland. The call came one day after the Biden administration formally determined that the reporter has been “wrongfully detained.” The designation elevates Gershkovich’s case for the U.S. government and means that a particular State Department office will take the lead on seeking his release. Earlier Tuesday, Biden called what’s happening to the journalist  “totally illegal.”