Criminal justice reform
How Kim Kardashian convinced Trump to pardon Alice Johnson
The behind-the-scenes journey Kim had to follow to get Johnson’s sentence commuted
Ivanka Trump’s husband, Jared Kushner, will release his upcoming book, Breaking History: A White House Memoir soon. Although the book is mostly about his experience as former President Donald Trump’s Senior Advisor, he also details how Kim Kardashian used her influence to convince the Trump administration to pardon Alice Johnson.
According to People, the book excerpt shares the behind-the-scenes journey Kim had to follow to get Johnson’s sentence commuted. As reported by the publication, Kardashian began reaching out to Ivanka Trump in late 2017.
Kushner wrote that Alice’s case caught his attention because she served a life sentence for a nonviolent drug offense. “She’d become an ordained minister, completed multiple vocational certifications, mentored fellow inmates, and maintained a spotless behavioral record,” he wrote, referring to everything Johnson did during the 21 years she was incarcerated.
“With the president increasingly supportive of criminal justice reform, I decided it was the perfect moment to bring him Alice Johnson’s clemency case,” Kushner says. “In an Oval Office meeting in May, after working closely with Kim Kardashian to vet the file, I presented Alice’s case to the president.”
Kushner also wrote that Alice’s “unfair” sentence had resistance from White House counsel Don McGahn, who described Johnson as the “kingpin” of the drug operation. Despite McGahn’s claims, Trump was open to the idea.
When Jared saw Trump’s reaction, he decided to invite Kardashian to the White House so she could add more substance to the petition. “She gracefully presented Alice’s case to the president,” Kushner writes. “She knew the details backward and forward.”
The president’s son-in-law said that after McGahn saw Kim, he was “starstruck.” After Kardashian’s arguments, Trump made the life-changing decision to pardon Alice. “Two days later, [Trump] called me early in the morning and said, ‘Let’s do the pardon. Let’s hope Alice doesn’t go out and kill anyone!’”
“Her emotion was raw, her joy contagious, her long-suffering and love emanated from her smile,” Kushner says. “The president called me afterward. ‘Jared, that is one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. I’ve been around for a long time, and that was beautiful.’”
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Although Kushner helped Kim step into the White House, he assured that Kardashian was the key player in influencing Trump’s decision. After Alice’s release, Kim dedicated part of her career to working on prison reform and helping lobby for the First Step Act.
She also echoed other cases, including Cyntoia Brown, Melissa Lucio, Gunna, and the father of one of the victims in the Uvalde shooting in Texas.
Kushner’s memoir is set to release on August 23.
