KREMLIN EMBARRASSES TRUMP WITH MARC FOGEL'S RELEASE

By Liam Archacki
The Daily Beast

The deal Donald Trump brokered with Russia to release American school teacher Marc Fogel on Tuesday was, in fact, a prisoner swap – even though the president had tried to suggest otherwise.

The Russian man freed in the deal is Alexander Vinnick, 45, who stands accused of laundering billions through the digital currency exchange website he ran, an unnamed U.S. official told The New York Times on Wednesday. Fogel was convicted of introducing marihuana into Russia and sentenced to 14 years in prison.

A spokesperson for the Kremlin told reporters earlier on Wednesday that the U.S. had released a Russian citizen in exchange for Fogel, but declined to identify the person until they returned to their home country, according to the Associated Press.

The news comes after Trump on Tuesday evaded questions about what exactly the U.S. gave up to free Fogel. The president would only repeat his evaluation that the deal was “very fair.”

In an interview on NewsNation, Secretary of State Marco Rubio gloated – apparently erroneously – that Fogel’s release was “not in return for anything.”

“There wasn’t some deal here where we had to release, like, 10 spies,” Rubio added. “And I think it shows President Trump’s commitment to bringing home Americans.”

The White House did not immediately respond to the Daily Beast’s request for comment on whether the deal was a swap for Vinnik.

Vinnik, who ran the exchange BTC-e, was extradited to the U.S. after being arrested in Greece in 2017. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering in May 2024.

Vinnik’s lawyer Frédéric Bélot confirmed to CNN that his client had been released, calling it “a real relief for my client and his family.”

Fogel, 63, was greeted by Trump upon his return from Russia on Wednesday. The Pennsylvania teacher had been in custody since 2021 after he brought medical marijuana into Russia.

(Fogel will journey to San Antonio, Texas to participate in the US government readjustment program on Wednesday, an attorney for Fogel told CNN, to help them acclimate after being imprisoned abroad.

Wrongful detainees returning to the US are given the option to take part in PISA, which stands for Post Isolation Support Activities. A former senior State Department official described the program as helpful for former detainees “to tell (their) story.”

Everything “will be new” and “surreal” for Fogel as he adjusts back to life in the US, according to Paul Whelan, an American wrongly held in Russia for more than five years until he was freed in a prisoner exchange last year.

“He’s waking up in the first world after spending three and a half in the third world. Everything will be new to him. Everything familiar will be a just a surreal experience,” he told CNN on Wednesday.)

“It’s great to have you back,” Trump told him.

Trump also said that he hopes the deal will help his aspiration to end Russia's war against Urkraine, a campaign promise that he has so far failed to fulfill.

“I think there’s good will, in terms of the war,” Trump said. “I think this … could be a big, important part in getting the war over.”

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov was more conservative about what the deal would do to ease tensions between Russia and the U.S.

“Such agreements can hardly serve as a turning point, but they are little steps toward building mutual confidence, which is at its lowest level,” he said, according to the AP.