Kim Kardashian Is Calling Jared Kushner and Advocating for Trump to Pardon a Nonviolent Drug Offender
Kanye West may have delayed his 2020 presidential bid after praising President Donald Trump last week, but Kim Kardashian-West is already getting a head start working with the White House.
The reality TV star has reportedly been in communication with White House Senior Adviser Jared Kushner over recent months to discuss a potential resolution for Alice Marie Johnson, a nonviolent drug offender currently serving a life sentence whose story gained national prominence last year.
White House lawyers have reviewed Johnson’s case as calls between Kardashian-West and Kushner “picked up in intensity over the last several days,” according to Mic, which first reported on the conversations in an article published Wednesday. Axios has since confirmed the calls have taken place.
Via Mic:
In her October op-ed, Johnson told Mic she became involved in drug trafficking as a way to make ends meet following a particularly rough period in her life: She lost her job at FedEx, where she had worked for 10 years, due to a gambling addiction; she got divorced; and then her youngest son died in a motorcycle accident.
“I felt like a failure,” Johnson said. “I went into a complete panic and out of desperation, I made one of the worst decisions of my life to make some quick money. I became involved in a drug conspiracy.”
Johnson has been serving a life sentence in federal prison since 1996, and will likely continue to do so without a presidential pardon or clemency. Meanwhile, Trump has advocated for the death penalty to be considered for certain drug offenders, while the Justice Department under Attorney General Jeff Sessions is essentially reviving the war on drugs.
It remains unclear what sparked the sudden increase in communications between the White House and Kardashian-West. The president thanked her husband for his recent praise in a tweet last week, before claiming the rapper’s comments indicate his administration has helped black and Hispanic communities. Kardashian-West has also defended her husband from backlash for supporting Trump.
[image via screengrab]
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