McCarthy calls on Russia to release WSJ reporter, suggests Biden's prisoner swap emboldened Putin

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McCarthy: Arrest of Wall Street Journal reporter shows how 'deadly' Russian President Putin is

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy reacts to the Wall Street Journal reporter detained in Russia.

EXCLUSIVE: House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to release the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reporter that was detained in the red nation.

At a Thursday event for his Protect the House 2024 joint fundraising committee at the Capitol Hill Club in Washington, D.C., McCarthy demanded Putin release WSJ reporter Evan Gershkovich, a U.S. citizen who was arrested in Russia and is being held on suspicion of espionage.

"Russia needs to release this journalist," McCarthy told Fox News Digital. "It just shows what Putin is doing."

"And it also shows when the president pays ransom, they’ll go after and take more Americans," he added.

WALL STREET JOURNAL DEFENDS REPORTER AFTER HE’S ARRESTED BY RUSSIA ON SUSPICION OF ESPIONAGE

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., on Thursday demanded Russian President Vladimir Putin release Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, a U.S. citizen who was arrested in Russia and is being held on suspicion of espionage. (C-SPAN screenshot)

"Americans need to make sure they’re not in Russia, but more importantly, this is a journalist who has a right to do their job," the speaker said. "And for Putin to try anything else, it shows how deadly he is."

McCarthy added that what Putin "is doing is against every realm of the rule of law."

The speaker’s call for Gershkovich’s release comes after the U.S. journalist was arrested in Russia on allegations of spying on behalf of the American government. 

The WSJ forcefully defended its reporter after he was arrested in Russia on allegations of espionage.

The Russian government's Federal Security Service (FSB) said it had detained Gershkovich in the city of Yekaterinburg and accused him of spying on behalf of the U.S. government.

The Russian government's Federal Security Service said it had detained Gershkovich in the city of Yekaterinburg and accused him of spying on behalf of the U.S. government. (Wall Street Journal/Screenshot)

Gershkovich is "suspected of spying in the interests of the US government," the FSB said in a statement reported by state news agency RIA Novosti. The FSB added his "illegal activities" "have been suppressed."

The Russian government agency claimed it arrested the journalist while he was "trying to obtain secret information… on the activities of one of the enterprises of the Russian military-industrial complex."

The FSB Investigation Department opened a criminal case under the article for espionage, RIA Novosti reported.

The WSJ defended their reporter and denied Russia's allegations in a statement.

"The Wall Street Journal vehemently denies the allegations from the FSB and seeks the immediate release of our trusted and dedicated reporter, Evan Gershkovich. We stand in solidarity with Evan and his family," senior communications manager Caitlyn Reuss wrote.

McCarthy said that what Putin "is doing is against every realm of the rule of law." (Gavriil Grigorov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

The Journal said Gershkovich reported on Russia as part of the paper's Moscow bureau. He is accredited to work as a journalist in Russia by the country’s foreign ministry, the FSB also said.

Gershkovich was previously a reporter for Agence France-Presse and the Moscow Times and a news assistant at The New York Times, according to his WSJ bio.

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Reporters face up to 15 years in prison if they report what authorities deem as false reports about the military, according to a new Russian law. The legislation was passed by both chambers of the Russian parliament. 

Some outlets like BBC News have suspended reporting from within the country due to the law, citing safety concerns.