Fogel’s family ‘very hopeful’ after case comes up in Senate confirmation hearing
Anne Fogel said her family is feeling “very hopeful” as her brother Marc Fogel’s detainment case in Russia gets brought up in pubic spheres, such as U.S. Senate hearings.
Pennsylvania’s U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick, a Republican elected in November, asked Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., what he will do about Fogel’s imprisonment in Russia during a Senate confirmation hearing Wednesday, Jan. 15. Rubio is President-elect Donald Trump’s choice for secretary of state.
Anne Fogel said that sometime after the July 13 Trump rally in Butler County, Marc Fogel’s mother, Malphine Fogel, met with McCormick, who was running for the Senate seat at the time. She met with him to ask for his help in case he ended up getting elected, and was able to receive his input on her son’s case.
“He was familiar with our case, and so it was very gratifying to hear Marc Fogel’s name come up during the hearing, in a public setting,” Anne Fogel said Thursday, Jan. 16.
Anne Fogel also said their nephew, Ethan, was able to previously meet with Rubio. In total, the family has visited more than 30 senators over the last three years advocating for Marc Fogel’s release and help from Congress. The family has made a point of meeting with senators on the Foreign Relations Committee, such as Rubio last year, as well as senators with ties to intelligence.
When asked by McCormick if he would make Marc Fogel’s freedom a top priority as secretary of state, Rubio said “absolutely,” and that he’s already been involved in conversations on the topic.
“This is a ridiculous case,” Rubio said at the hearing. “I mean ... clearly there was an order given at some level that if you see an American, and you have anything you can charge them with, let’s charge them, and let’s collect these, because we can trade them in the future for something.
“There’s a global market for this now, and it’s one of the challenges of the 21st century."
Rubio said it would be hard to improve relations with Russia without Fogel being freed.
Freeing Marc Fogel has become a bipartisan issue. While Butler County’s U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly, R-16th, has frequently advocated for Fogel’s inclusion in prisoner swaps, U.S. Rep. Chris Deluzio, a Democratic from Allegheny County, thanked McCormick on social media for bringing up Fogel’s case, saying that he is ready to work with the next secretary of state to get him safely out of Russia and reunited with his family.
Fogel, a Butler native and teacher from Oakmont, was teaching in Russia when he was detained in August 2021 for possessing around a half-ounce of medical marijuana on him prescribed for chronic back pain. He is serving a 14-year sentence at a Russian penal colony.
Recent developments in the case include the news the Department of State officially designating Fogel as “wrongfully detained,” which broke Dec. 27. The designation follows a lawsuit filed by the family against the state department for its failure to make the designation, which the family has since voluntarily dismissed.
The designation, made officially by Secretary of State Antony Blinken under the Levinson Act, should free up additional resources to secure Fogel’s release. A spokesperson from the State Department said shortly after Christmas that efforts to secure Fogel’s release had been ongoing for months.
