Mother of American Imprisoned in Venezuela: ‘I Haven’t Heard From Anybody’ From State Dept or White House About My Son

On Monday’s broadcast of CNN’s “The Lead,” Laurie Holt, the mother of Mormon missionary Joshua Holt, who has been held prisoner in Venezuela since June 30, stated that despite “numerous” attempts to contact officials, “I haven’t heard from anybody as far as the State Department, anybody in Washington, the White House, no one,” regarding her son.

Holt said, in response to a question on whether the State Department been responsive enough to her, “No, I don’t feel like they have. Right now, I just need — President Obama said, last year, that he was going to do better with these cases, with, you know, Americans held hostage. I need him to step up and do that.”

She added, “I haven’t heard from anybody as far as the State Department, anybody in Washington, the White House, no one, and I’ve written numerous letters, emails. I just need them to work harder than what they’re doing.”

Before the interview started, anchor Jake Tapper said that a State Department spokesperson told him that “representatives from the US embassy have been visiting Holt in jail regularly, as recently as August 16th, and that the US government is asking for a fair trial.”

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