Letter to the editor: Marc Fogel a victim of politics

The editorial “Difference between Brittney Griner and Marc Fogel? One came home” (May 4, TribLive) sent a powerful message regarding Fogel’s struggles in Russian custody. He lives in pain from all the surgeries he had, and possibly medical marijuana was the only option to relieve some of his pain.

When Griner was taken into custody for a similar offense, it seemed like President Biden was only concerned about her release. As we all know, this ended up as a trade for an arms dealer known as the “Merchant of Death.” Why didn’t Biden stand his ground and say we wanted Fogel returned to the United States, since he was in prison for a much longer period and had major health issues which would become worse over time?

We all know the answer to that: It was all political. I was not interested in watching the Griner interview. No U.S. citizen should be in a Russian prison, but as the editorial stated, no one even says Fogel’s name.

My only question is, why didn’t Robin Roberts invite all the families of currently held prisoners to that interview? Or is she also making this political?

Ann Stanton

Baden