Butler mother troubled by detained son’s absence from Russia negotiations
Malphine Fogel is worried that the U.S. government will miss the chance to get her son, Marc Fogel, out of a Russian prison should his name not be included in a proposed prisoner swap deal between the two nations.
Marc Fogel, formerly of Butler, a 61-year-old husband and father of two who had lived in Oakmont, Allegheny County, was detained Aug. 14, 2021, after he was found in possession of less than an ounce of medical marijuana, which was acquired legally before traveling to Russia.
President Joe Biden plans to meet at the White House on Friday with family members of WNBA star Brittney Griner and Michigan corporate security executive Paul Whelan, both of whom remain jailed in Russia, the White House announced Thursday.
According to Malphine, her family has not been included in talks with White House officials, despite having written several letters to Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Considering that her son has been detained longer than Griner, Malphine said she is frustrated and scared that Marc’s name has not been brought up in negotiation talks.
“The question is why Marc has not been included in these talks, in these swaps,” Malphine said. “I just think now is the time. I just worry that the opportunity is going to be missed if he is not included this time.”
Griner has been held in Russia since February on drug-related charges. She was sentenced last month to nine years in prison after pleading guilty and has appealed the punishment. Whelan is serving a 16-year sentence on espionage-related charges that he and his family say are false. The U.S. government regards both as wrongfully detained, placing their cases with the office of its top hostage negotiator.
The separate meetings are to be the first in-person encounter between Biden and the families and are taking place amid sustained, but so far unsuccessful efforts by the administration to secure the Americans’ release. The administration said in July that it had made a “substantial proposal” to get them home, but despite plans for the White House meetings, there is no sign that a breakthrough is imminent.
Friday’s meetings, which both families have long sought, are intended to underscore the administration’s commitment to bringing home Griner, Whelan and other Americans jailed abroad, as well as to “connect with them on a human level as they undergo an ordeal that the Russian government has imposed on them,” said one of the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity as the meetings had not yet been publicly announced.
“He wanted to let them know that they remain front of mind and that his team is working on this every day on making sure that Brittney and Paul return home safely,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said at Thursday’s press briefing at the White House.
Negotiations have been complicated by the tense relations between Washington and Moscow over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Blinken took the unusual step of announcing two months ago that the administration had made a substantial proposal to Russia. Since then, the administration has followed up in multiple ways to press its offer and get serious negotiations underway, one of the administration officials said Thursday.
The Russians, who have indicated that they are open to negotiations but have chided the Americans to conduct them in private, have come back with suggestions that are not within the administration’s ability to deliver, said the official, declining to elaborate. But the U.S. has been following up through the same channels that produced an April prisoner swap that brought Marine veteran Trevor Reed home from Russia, the official said.
The administration has not provided specifics about its proposal, but a person familiar with the matter previously confirmed it had offered to release Viktor Bout, a convicted Russian arms dealer now imprisoned in the U.S. It is also possible that, in the interests of symmetry, Russia might insist on having two of its citizens released from prison.
Biden spoke by phone in July with Griner's wife, Cherelle, and with Whelan's sister, Elizabeth, but both families have also requested in-person meetings. On Friday, Biden plans to speak at the White House with Cherelle Griner and with the player’s agent in one meeting, and with Elizabeth Whelan in the other.
The meetings are being done separately so as to ensure that each family has private time with the president. But the fact that they are happening on the same day shows the extent to which the two cases have become intertwined.
In the past several months, representatives of both families have expressed frustration over what they perceived as a lack of aggressive action and coordination from the administration.
Administration officials say work on hostage and detainee cases persist regardless of whether a family receives a meeting with the president, though there is also no question that such an encounter can help establish a connection. Biden met in the Oval Office in March with Reed’s parents after the Texas couple stood with a large sign outside the White House calling for their son’s release.
Malphine said she is at a loss of what to do to even get her son’s name in front of the administration. She and her family have met with “lower echelon” White House officials in recent months, but they have still not heard of any attempts to free Marc.
“Griner and Whelan have been mentioned so many times and Marc’s name has not,” Malphine said. “I wish there was someone I could talk to.”
Eddie Trizzino is a Butler Eagle staff writer.
