By now, you’ve probably seen this picture.
That’s reality TV star Kim Kardashian in a picture with President Donald Trump. Her husband is famously a fan of the POTUS, his “brother,” but that’s not why she was at the Oval Office on Wednesday. It’s because of 63-year-old Alice Marie Johnson, who is serving a life sentence without parole for a nonviolent offense. Jurors found her guilty in 1996 for drug conspiracy and money laundering. The case became a cause célèbre, and Kardashian got involved. Johnson was definitely on her mind Wednesday.
In 2016, CNN published an editorial by Johnson, in which she asked then-President Barack Obama for clemency.
“The President has made an incredible push at helping to right the wrongs of our criminal justice system,” she wrote. “I applaud him and hold out hope for me and thousands of others who face lifelong sentences for nonviolent crimes. But with the historic Obama administration coming to an end, this could be a last chance at freedom for me and for many others — so I also hope he moves quickly. I hope his administration will process all the applications for clemency currently waiting for the President’s review.”
He didn’t give clemency to Johnson.
One of her attorneys, Brittany Barnett, told The Daily Mail that Kardashian had planned to ask Trump for a pardon in their meeting. She was also scheduled to meet with Senior Advisor and son-in-law to the president Jared Kushner to discuss prison reform.
[Image via Neilson Barnard/Getty Images]