Van Jones Gives Trump Credit For ‘Very Good’ Move with ‘Pardon Czar’ Pick: ‘That’s Huge’
Van Jones offered some rare praise for President Donald Trump, crediting him for his “very good” pick for his pardon czar, Alice Marie Johnson.
Jones joined Donny Deutsch on his On Brand podcast on Monday to discuss Trump’s announcement last week that Johnson will serve as pardon czar in his administration. The president pardoned Johnson during his first term in 2020 after she spent more than 20 years in prison for a non-violent drug crime. He originally commuted her sentence in 2018. Johnson was serving a life sentence and Trump pardoned her after Kim Kardashian personally advocated on her behalf.
Jones applauded the pick and argued Johnson’s past will lead to serious reform through pardons.
He said:
“He put Miss Alice Johnson — the formerly incarcerated black woman who he freed while working with Kim Kardashian — he just put her in charge of pardons. That’s huge. Somebody who’s actually been incarcerated, been in the federal system, understands how the Department of Justice screws over people who should be coming home — some people who shouldn’t come home, but a lot of people that should come home and they get screwed by the pardon office. She will fix that.”
Jones has his own history with Trump and criminal justice reform as he collaborated on the First Step Act during Trump’s first term, which allowed many incarcerated individuals who are nonviolent to earn earlier release.
“As somebody who has worked on criminal justice, as you know, for 30 years, having someone who’s a formerly incarcerated person in charge of going through all these pardons and making sure that people get a fair shot — I think that’s a very good thing,” he said.
Johnson told Fox News that she already had “marching orders” from Trump regarding her new position.
“[I want to make sure] that they have the ability not only for a second chance but for their best chance of success. Then it takes follow-up because I don’t want to help people come home, and then at the same time, they’re set up for failure. We’ll be making sure that we check in with them,” she said. “Not in concert with probation, not to catch them doing something wrong, but to make sure that they have things that will help them make right decisions.”
Watch above via On Brand with Donny Deutsch.
