Richard Grenell, President Donald Trump's envoy for special missions, talked with Newsmax on Tuesday shortly after returning to the U.S. with Air Force combat veteran Joseph St. Clair, whose release from a Venezuelan prison was secured by Grenell earlier in the day.
Grenell secretly traveled to Antigua on Tuesday morning to meet with Venezuelan officials and gain St. Clair's release. The U.S. asserted St. Clair, 33, was wrongfully detained by Venezuelan authorities while he was traveling along the Colombia-Venezuela border last fall.
"We just made it back," Grenell told "The Record With Greta Van Susteren" by phone from Washington Dulles International Airport. "We went early this morning to a third country, a neutral country. And I met with Venezuelan officials. We've been negotiating.
"We have around six Americans who are held against their will. And we got one of them home. And so, we just returned to Washington and are very excited to welcome Joe back home in the land of the free."
Stars and Stripes reported in May that St. Clair, who served four tours in Afghanistan, sought alternative treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder in Costa Rica after graduating from law school. He then traveled to Colombia, where he worked at a language school.
St. Clair and a friend from Colombia were traveling as tourists near the Venezuelan border in October when Venezuelan authorities arrested them. After being detained, St. Clair was taken to a Venezuelan prison that has been condemned by human rights groups for abuse of inmates.
"He's extremely excited to be back home," Grenell said. "He's a very smart kid. He is passionate about making sure that people understand that to be an American is a really special thing. So, in terms of his story, I'm going to let him tell it, Greta. It's his story to tell. And I think that there's been some misinformation out there about it. And I think he will talk in due time."
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