08.01.2024
BIDEN ABANDONS MARC FOGEL
MARC, WE HAVE NOT FORGOTTEN YOU.
PRESIDENT TRUMP TOLD MARC’S 95-YEAR-OLD MOTHER THAT HE IS COMMITTED TO BRINGING MARC HOME IF HE BECOMES PRESIDENT. THREE YEARS IS PAST TIME FOR PRESIDENT BIDEN TO DO THE SAME.
NO OTHER DETAINEE SHOULD BE PUT BEFORE MARC. TEACHERS MATTER. REGULAR PEOPLE MATTER. CELEBRITIES SHOULD NOT BE THE ONLY ONES WHO MATTER.
MARC AND BRITTNEY GRINER WERE TRIED IN THE SAME EXACT RUSSIAN COURT, BY THE SAME JUDGE, CONVICTED UNDER THE SAME EXACT RUSSIAN CRIMINAL STATUTES, ONLY SENTENCING GUIDELINES WERE DIFFERENT.
SHE CAME HOME. BIDEN AND SECRETARY BLINKEN LEFT MARC. HE IS ALONE AND HIS BODY IS FAILING. HIS FAMILY IS BEREFT.
MARC MUST BE DECLARED WRONGFULLY DETAINED, WHICH MAKES HIM ELIGIBLE FOR A PRISONER SWAP AND BRINGS THE WHOLE U.S. GOVERNMENT TO FIGHT FOR HIM. IT GIVES HIM PHYSICAL AND MENTAL HEALTHCARE BEYOND THE RUSSIAN PRISON SYSTEM. IT PROVIDES FUNDS TO THE FOGELS TO FIGHT FOR HIM.
THEY ARE NOT MILLIONAIRES. HE IS NOT A CELEBRITY. HE IS NOT A PROFESSIONAL BASKETBALL PLAYER OR A WORLD KNOWN NEWSPAPER REPORTER. HE DOES NOT HAVE NUMEROUS PASSPORTS—HE IS ONLY AMERICAN AND EVEN BIDEN’S AMERICA IS NOT FIGHTING FOR HIM.
BRING HIM HOME. MAKE HIM MATTER. MAKE HIS FAMILY MATTER AS MUCH AS BRITTNEY’S MATTER. AS MUCH AS REPORTERS’ FAMILIES MATTER. AS MUCH AS DUAL CITIZENS MATTER.
MARC NEVER MEANT TO BREAK THE LAW. HE PLANNED ON DECLARING HIS MEDICAL MARIJUANA AT RUSSIAN CUSTOMS BECAUSE THE U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT CHANGED HIS VISA FROM DIPLOMAT TO REGULAR FOR THE FIRST TIME AFTER 9 YEARS OF TEACHING AMERICAN HIGH SCHOOLERS OF OUR DIPLOMATS IN MOSCOW.
HE WAS ARRESTED BEFORE HE REACHED THE RUSSIAN CUSTOMS OFFICER. RUSSIA HAD PREVIOUSLY LET FOREIGNERS BRING IN MARIJUANA WITH A PHYSICIAN’S PRESCRIPTION. ALL OF THIS IS IN HIS COURT TRANSCRIPTS.
American teacher
has been unjustly imprisoned in Russia for over
MARC FOGEL
1,040 DAYS
We need to show President Biden and his State Department that Marc Fogel is as important as Brittney Griner. She deserved to come home.
He deserves to come home.
Please support Marc & the Fogel family in this effort.
EMAIL PRESIDENT BIDEN AT swasserman@joebiden.com
1. SAY MARC FOGEL’S NAME
2. DESIGNATE MARC FOGEL AS WRONGFULLY DETAINED (LIKE HE DID BRITTNEY GRINER)
3. BRING MARC FOGEL HOME IN THE NEXT AMERICAN/RUSSIAN PRISONER SWAP
#GershkovichWhelanFogel
Ask Pennsylvania Senators Casey (trace_ledgard@casey.senate.gov) & Fetterman (mitchel_henderson@fetterman.senate.gov) to say Marc Fogel’s name, tell President Biden to designate him as wrongfully detained, and to bring him home.
Tell him to:
TAKE ACTION:
Marc Fogel is a beloved son, father, husband, brother, teacher and proud American who was detained on August 14th, 2021 in Russia and was sentenced to 14 years in a maximum security penal colony for the same crime as Brittney Griner.
MARC’S AILMENTS
X-Ray of Marc Fogel’s Back & Spine
Marc struggled for years with debilitating pain ultimately resulting in three failed back surgeries including a spinal fusion, two knee operations, a hip replacement, and rotator cuff surgery. Marc chose to forgo opioids and narcotics. He didn’t like how they made him feel and witnessed the destruction they had caused. Instead, he used medical marijuana to manage his pain. He had a prescription card when he was detained and arrested in Russia with a limited amount of medical marijuana. Today, Marc’s condition continues to deteriorate in his prison cell four hours north of Moscow.
WRONGFULLY IMPRISONED IN RUSSIA.
#FREEMARCFOGEL
Media
TribLIVE Editorial: Difference between Brittney Griner and Marc Fogel? One came home
On Wednesday, WNBA All-Star Brittney Griner was featured in a “20/20” interview ahead of the release of her new book, “Coming Home.”
Indiana University of Pennsylvania: IUP President Continues Support for Efforts to Free Alumnus Marc Fogel, Recognizes Editorial in Pittsburgh-Post Gazette
This statement is from Indiana University of Pennsylvania President Michael Driscoll:
“Today, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette published an editorial by Mrs. Malphine Fogel, mother of IUP alumnus Marc Fogel, who has been jailed in Russia since August 2021.
Senator Bob Casey: Senate Committee Advances Casey Legislation Calling for Immediate Release of PA Teacher Marc Fogel From Unjust Criminal Sentence in Russia
Washington, D.C. – The Senate Committee on Foreign Relations voted in favor of U.S. Senator Bob Casey’s (D-PA) bipartisan concurrent resolution calling for the immediate release of Marc Fogel from Russian detention…
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette | Malphine Fogel: President Biden, please work for my son's freedom as hard as you worked for Brittney Griner's
I am the mother of Marc Fogel. Marc grew up in Butler and received his teaching degree from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. He then traveled the world teaching American history to high school children of Americans who served in foreign service posts…
Butler Eagle: Marc Fogel named in fiscal spending billreport
Longtime history teacher and Butler native Marc Fogel, who is nearing three years in a Russian prison, was named in a report accompanying the 2024 fiscal spending bill recently passed by Congress…
Indiana Gazette: Marc Fogel's continued detention in Russia included in Fiscal Year 2024 Minibus bill
The House Appropriations Committee has called attention to an area man in his third year of captivity in Russia, as part of a report issued along with the Minibus bill for Fiscal Year 2024…
Alter Eagle: Malphine Fogel for Marc | Episode 2
Marc Fogel is an American schoolteacher who was arrested in August 2021 by Russian authorities for trying to enter Russia with 0.6 ounces (17 g) of medical marijuana…
Butler Eagle: Marc Fogel, ‘I want to come home.’
Each night, at 9:30 p.m., Malphine Fogel prays the rosary for her son. Throughout the day she finds herself checking the time, wondering what he might be doing across the world in that same moment, separated by an eight-hour time difference…
The Moscow Times: Marc Fogel, My American Teacher, Is the Kremlin’s Political Pawn
Marc Fogel was my history teacher and softball coach at the Anglo-American School of Moscow. He has borne the brunt of deteriorating Russian-American relations for over 900 days since he was detained…
CBS News: Lawmakers push for release of Butler County native Marc Fogel in prisoner swap with Russia
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- More than a dozen Pennsylvania lawmakers are pushing again for the release of Butler County native Marc Fogel in any future prisoner swaps with Russia…
Rep. Kelly: Kelly, Pa. Lawmakers to Blinken: Marc Fogel Must Be Included in Any Prisoner Swap
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly (R-PA) and Chief Deputy Whip Guy Reschenthaler (R-PA), alongside Senators Bob Casey (D-PA) and John Fetterman (D-PA), as well as Representatives Chris Deluzio (D-PA), Dan Meuser (R-PA), Dwight Evans (D-PA), Madeleine Dean (D-PA), Brendan Boyle (D-PA), Matt Cartwright (D-PA), Glenn “GT” Thompson (R-PA), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Susan Wild (D-PA), Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA), and Summer Lee (D-PA) urged Secretary Antony Blinken to include Butler County native and Pittsburgh-area resident Marc Fogel in any prisoner swap made with Russia…
Rep. Deluzio: Deluzio Statement on Marc Fogel’s Two Years of Unjust Detention in Russia
CARNEGIE, PA — Today, Congressman Chris Deluzio (PA-17) released the following statement on the solemn two-year anniversary of Marc Fogel’s unjust detention in Russia. Mr. Fogel is a resident of Oakmont, PA and a constituent of Rep. Deluzio’s in Western Pennsylvania…
Rep. Reschenthaler: Reschenthaler, Colleagues Introduce the Marc Fogel Act
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Chief Deputy Whip Guy Reschenthaler (R-PA), alongside U.S. Representatives Chris Deluzio (D-PA), Mike Kelly (R-PA), and Brendan Boyle (D-PA), introduced the Marc Fogel Act…
TIME Magazine: Who Is Marc Fogel? American Who Remains in Russia forMedical Marijuana After Griner Release
Marc Fogel, a 61-year-old American teacher arrested after entering Russia in August 2021 for possessing medical marijuana, has a case comparable to WNBA star Brittney Griner’s, but after Griner’s release this week, Fogel’s future remains uncertain…
Politico: The Other American Jailed in Russia on Marijuana Charges
For the past year and a half, an American citizen has been languishing in a series of Russian prisons, serving a lengthy sentence for attempting to enter the country with a small quantity of medical marijuana — but that American is not Brittney Griner…
Rep. Reschenthaler: Reschenthaler Introduces Resolution to Help Bring Russian Detainee Marc Fogel Home
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Representative Guy Reschenthaler (PA-14) introduced a resolution of inquiry in response to the Biden Administration’s continued reluctance to designate Marc Fogel, a history teacher and Pittsburgh-native imprisoned in Russia, as “wrongfully detained.” Representatives Glenn ‘GT’ Thompson (PA-15) and Mike Kelly (PA-16) are original cosponsors of the resolution…
The National Interest: Russia’s American Hostages: The Marc Fogel Case
If the administration is seriously committed to combating the “extraordinary threat” of politically motivated hostage-taking, it should declare Fogel wrongfully detained and commit…
FoxNews: Sister of Marc Fogel, American held in Russia, questions why Biden admin is ‘dragging its feet’
Pennsylvania native Marc Fogel, who was arrested in Russia with medical marijuana last year and sentenced to 14 years in prison, had his appeal rejected by a Russian court on Friday…
CNN: US asked Russia to release American Marc Fogel on humanitarian grounds, his family says
The US State Department has asked Russia to release American citizen Marc Fogel on humanitarian grounds, his family and his lawyer told CNN…
CNN: Bipartisan group of senators urge State Department to designate American teacher as ‘wrongfully detained’ in Russia
A group of nine bipartisan senators called on Secretary of State Antony Blinken to immediately designate an American teacher sentenced to 14 years in Russian prison as “wrongfully detained,”…
Congressional Corner
Six Members of PA Delegation Join Together To Write Letters of Support for Marc Fogel
Lawmakers, leaders call for release of Marc Fogel:
Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA), Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA), Rep. Guy Reschenthaler (R-PA), Rep. Mike Kelly (R-PA), Rep. Chris Deluzio (D-PA), and Rep. Glenn ‘GT’ Thompson (R-PA)
Malphine and Anne Fogel along with President Driscoll of IUP with Senator Fetterman (D-PA)
Sam Fogel with Senator Fetterman (D-PA)
Sam Fogel with Congressman Deluzio (D-PA)
Malphine Fogel and President Driscoll of IUP with Congressman Reschenthaler (R-PA)
Malphine and Anne Fogel with Congressman Evans (D-PA)
Sam Fogel and Cy Burchenal with Congressman Gosar (R-AZ)
Sam Fogel and Cy Burchenal with Senator Cruz (R-TX)
Malphine and Anne Fogel with Senator Cruz (R-TX)
Sam Fogel and Cy Burchenal with Senator Van Hollen (D-MD)
Sam Fogel and Cy Burchenal with Senator Daines (R-MT)
Malphine and Anne Fogel with Senator Daines (R-MT)
Sam Fogel and Cy Burchenal with Senator Tester (D-MT)
Sam Fogel and Cy Burchenal with Congresswoman Kim (R-CA)
Malphine and Anne Fogel with Congressman Allred (D-TX)
Malphine Fogel with Congressman Self (R-TX)