President Trump’s envoy who finalized the deal for the release of Pennsylvania teacher Marc Fogel after three years in a Russian prison said Wednesday that it sends a message of hope to other Americans detained overseas.
“No American gets left behind. That was a message of hope to every American who is being held in a foreign jail,” said Steve Witkoff, the administration’s Middle East envoy who flew Mr. Fogel home on Tuesday.
“Without President Trump’s election, none of this would have happened,” he told reporters at the White House.
Mr. Witkoff also gave credit to CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Chief of Staff Susan Wilies and others in the administration.
Mr. Witkoff negotiated the release of Mr. Fogel and then flew to Russia to bring the newly released U.S. citizen back to the United States on his private jet. He said Russia still had not agreed to release Mr. Fogel when he landed in Russia.
“There was still work to do,” he said.
As the exchange came together in recent days, Mr. Trump dispatched Mr. Witkoff, a real estate developer and longtime friend of the president, to go to Moscow and close the deal.
Mr. Fogel was released on Tuesday. He was arrested on charges of bringing medical marijuana into Russia in August 2021. He began serving a 14-year sentence in June 2022.
The Biden administration did not classify him as wrongly detained by Russia until last year.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
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