Much like her husband Kanye West, Kim Kardashian is wading into politics — but not in the way you may think. Kardashian’s conversations with the White House to free 62-year-old Alice Marie Johnson have been picking up recently and it looks as if the grandmother may be pardoned.
Kardashian first learned about Johnson’s case in October 2017, tweeting a video describing her case and saying, “This is so unfair…”
This is so unfair… https://t.co/W3lPINbQuy
— Kim Kardashian (@KimKardashian) October 26, 2017
Johnson has been serving a prison sentence of life without parole since 1996 for facilitating communications in a drug trafficking case. It was the grandmother’s first offense and a non-violent crime.
In the decades since her imprisonment, Johnson’s case has captured international attention and when Kardashian discovered her story, she began enlisting her legal team to help.
A Wednesday, May 2 report from Mic states Kardashian and White House senior advisor Jared Kushner — who is Trump’s son-in-law — have discussed a possible pardon for Johnson via phone. A source told the outlet that conversations have occurred over the last several months and have been increasing during the last several days; White House attorneys have also reviewed the case.
Kardashian’s representatives confirmed to Mic that she has been working to bring the issue to Trump’s attention. Should things move forward, Kardashian, Kushner and Trump would meet to discuss a possible pardon in the next several weeks. Yet although Kushner has reportedly backed the Prison Reform and Redemption Act, which would enact federally sponsored programs to assist prisoners with reentering into society and hopefully lower recidivism rates, Trump has proposed giving the death penalty to certain drug dealers.
After Johnson learned about Kardashian’s involvement last year, she sent her a thank you note obtained by TMZ that said Kardashian is “literally helping to save my life and restore me to my family. I was drowning and you have thrown me a life jacket and given me hope.”
Johnson had hoped to be granted clemency under former President Barack Obama’s December 2016 pardoning of 231 prisoners. Yet despite having drug-related charges similar to those who were freed, Johnson remained imprisoned.
