Marc Fogel’s mother waits for updates
Malphine Fogel said she does not plan to attend the upcoming Trump rally on Saturday, Oct. 5, held at the site of the assassination attempt, out of respect for Corey Comperatore and his family and because of mobility issues that prevent her from standing for long periods of time.
The mother of imprisoned Butler native and international teacher, Marc Fogel, said she hopes her son will be included in a future prisoner swap, with little known about the U.S. State Department’s progress made on his case.
“I know the president knows about him, the political people know about him,” she said. “The ball’s in their court — there’s nothing we can do.”
Marc Fogel turned 63 in a Russian penal colony in July. His health is deteriorating, his 95-year-old mother shared.
The last time he was in the prison hospital, Malphine Fogel said her son told her he received 17 injections in his back.
“He said he took hundreds of pills,” she said.
Two months ago, Malphine Fogel received an audience with ex-president and GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump during a campaign rally at the Butler Farm Show grounds, which she attended to spread awareness about her son’s case. She said Trump assured her that if elected, he would bring her son home.
Before Trump took the stage, combat veteran and author Sean Parnell, as well as U.S. Senate candidate Dave McCormick, mentioned Fogel in their speeches.
Malphine Fogel was also meant to join Trump on stage to speak about her son, an opportunity that never materialized. Minutes into his speech, a 20-year-old gunman opened fire on the former president, killing Comperatore and injuring three others, including Trump.
Malphine Fogel was sitting in the first row at ground level when she heard what first sounded like fireworks. In a previous interview, she described seeing Trump’s right ear bleed.
This time, she said she wouldn’t want to inadvertently “intrude” on the victims’ stories.
“I didn’t want to infringe on the others,” she said.
She added that she has “mixed feelings” about attending political rallies as a means of spreading awareness about her son’s case.
In the meantime, she said the “word is out” about her son, but little information from the State Department is shared with the family about how his case is progressing.
“We have to guess what’s going on,” she said.
“It’s been three years,” she said. “It’s been almost unbearable, particularly for him. The damage that has been done can probably never be repaired. He’s missed out on a lot with his family, wife and sons, and the rest of us. But we just keep hoping something will break and that he’ll get out soon.”
Fogel was sentenced for possession of marijuana, for which he had a prescription to treat a back injury. Sasha Phillips, the Fogel family lawyer, has repeatedly stated the sentence is disproportionate to the crime.
Earlier this year, Malphine Fogel filed a lawsuit against Secretary of State Antony Blinken and the Department of State to compel Blinken to take action and review Fogel’s case under the Robert Levinson Hostage Recovery and Hostage-Taking Accountability Act. The suit alleges the Department of State’s report to Congress has misstated facts, indicating a failure to review his case.
In the meantime, Marc Fogel has yet to be designated as wrongfully detained. The designation would ease the financial burden on the family in advocating on his behalf, bolster advocacy efforts and grant him medical access.
Malphine Fogel said the lawsuit is still pending. The Department of State does not comment on ongoing litigation. When a U.S. national is detained oversees, the department reviews the circumstances surrounding their detentions “for indicators that they are wrongful” and conducts a fact-based review, according to a spokesperson.
“We are working to bring Marc Fogel home and have called on the Russian government to release him on humanitarian grounds,” a department spokesperson stated in late August. “Since the beginning of the Biden-Harris administration, we have secured the release of dozens of detainees, and we continue to work day and night to reunite those who are still separated from their families.”
