WASHINGTON – Wearing his only well-fitted suit, Harold Jezler pushed through a crowd of government officials, journalists and executives inside a ballroom blocks from the White House.
The acupuncturist scanned the room as guests in suits and evening gowns shook hands and sipped Pinot Noir. He approached a group of State Department officials and asked for Sebastian Gorka, the top counterterrorism adviser to President Donald Trump.
He left, a woman told him.
Harold sighed. His jaw tightened as beads of sweat gleamed on his forehead. Sensing his disappointment, the woman said she could deliver a message on his behalf. Harold thanked her and pressed an envelope into her hands.
Inside was a letter addressed to Trump, pleading with the president to help free his wife from a Russian penal colony, where she has endured harsh conditions for nearly four years – roughly half the time they’ve been married.
