Reschenthaler Applauds President Trump’s Successful Effort to Bring Marc Fogel Home
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Chief Deputy Whip Guy Reschenthaler (R-PA) issued the following statement regarding President Trump’s successful effort to bring Marc Fogel back to the United States:
“Marc Fogel spent 1,255 days locked away in a Russian penal colony under the Biden-Harris Administration while my congressional colleagues and I urged the State Department to bring him home. Thankfully, our prayers were answered with the election of President Donald J. Trump, whose leadership freed Marc in just 22 days. Today is a day of celebration, thankfulness, and gratitude knowing our fellow Pennsylvanian will soon be back on American soil with his family.”
Fogel, detained in Russia since August 2021, was serving a 14-year sentence for possession of medical marijuana used to treat his severe back injury. President Trump met with Fogel’s mother, Malphine Fogel, prior to an event in Butler, PA, last year and supported calls for his release.
Reschenthaler has worked tirelessly in Congress to bring Marc Fogel home:
- On January 23, 2025, Reschenthaler and his colleagues urged Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the State Department to use all the tools at their disposal to bring Marc Fogel home.
- On August 1, 2024, Reschenthaler led a letter to the Biden Administration calling for Marc Fogel to be included in any prisoner swap made with Russia.
- On December 21, 2023, Reschenthaler led a bipartisan, bicameral letterurging former Secretary of State Antony Blinken to include Pittsburgh-native Marc Fogel in any prisoner swap made with Russia.
- On February 15, 2023, Reschenthaler and former Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul led a letter to former Secretary of State Blinken expressing serious concern that the State Department has failed to provide information on why Fogel has not been classified as wrongfully detained.
- On June 27, 2023, Reschenthaler introduced the Marc Fogel Act, which would require the State Department to provide Congress with copies of documents and communications on why a wrongful determination has or has not been made in cases of U.S. nationals detained abroad within six months of arrest.
- On August 3, 2022, Reschenthaler led a letter to former Secretary of State Antony Blinken urging the State Department to immediately classify Marc Fogel as wrongfully detained due to the extreme similarity to Brittney Griner’s case.
- On October 31, 2022, Reschenthaler led a bipartisan letter to former Secretary of State Blinken demanding the State Department prioritize securing Fogel’s release.