US President Donald Trump and Kim Kardashian West. Photos / AP
US President Donald Trump and Kim Kardashian West. Photos / AP
US President Donald Trump commuted the sentence of Alice Marie Johnson, a woman serving a life term for a nonviolent crime, after meeting with reality television star and socialite Kim Kardashian West last week to discuss her case.
The action was the latest in a recent string of pardons andother acts of clemency from Trump, and aides haves suggested more could soon be on the way.
Johnson, 63, was convicted in 1996 and sentenced to life in prison on drug possession and money laundering charges.
Kardashian welcomed Trump's action on Twitter, writing "BEST NEWS EVER!!!!"
Jared Kushner, the President's son-in-law and senior adviser who helped arrange the meeting with Kardashian in the Oval Office last week, had heavily pushed for leniency for Johnson within the West Wing, according to administration officials, who requested anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.
Others in the West Wing, including White House counsel Donald McGahn, had cautioned against the action.
Trump's acts of clemency so far have been scattershot, driven by television segments, celebrities, friends and White House advisers who have pressed their cases for pardons that include controversial Sheriff Joe Arpaio, conservative commentator Dinesh D'Souza and Lewis "Scooter" Libby, former chief of staff to Vice-President Dick Cheney.
