Exclusive: Trump to host Kim Kardashian West at the White House to discuss criminal justice reform
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump will host Kim Kardashian West at the White House on Wednesday to draw attention to criminal justice reform through star power and to meet three women whose prison sentences he recently commuted.
West has become an advocate for criminal justice issues and has worked closely with the White House on the issue. West's visit was confirmed by two officials who spoke to USA TODAY on the condition of anonymity because the meeting has not yet been made public.
West will be accompanied by newly freed ex-prisoners Tynice Nichole Hall, Crystal Munoz, and Judith Negron.
West is a friend of Ivanka Trump, who introduced her to her husband and presidential senior adviser Jared Kushner. Together, they worked on obtaining a commutation for Alice Johnson, who in turn brought other cases to the White House’s attention. Johnson will also attend Wednesday’s meeting with Trump, Kardashian, and the three former inmates.
Kardashian, a businesswoman and reality television star, spoke at a White House event in June. She pushed for the commutation of Johnson’s prison sentence that Trump granted in 2018. At that time, Johnson was a 63-year-old great-grandmother serving a life sentence for a first drug offense.
Trump announced a wave of commutations and pardons last month, including for former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich and former New York City police commissioner Bernard Kerik. Trump has also often touted the "First Step Act," developed by Kushner and a bipartisan group of lawmakers, to improve rehabilitation programs for former prisoners.
Trump signed that law in late 2018.
More: Who got pardoned, who got shorter prison sentences under Trump's clemency?
Hall of Texas served nearly 14 years of an 18-year sentence for allowing her apartment to be used to distribute drugs. Munoz, of Odessa, Texas, spent the past 12 years in prison after she was convicted for her role in a marijuana smuggling ring. Negron, the owner of a Miami-area mental health company, was sentenced in 2011 to 35 years in prison for orchestrating a $205 million Medicare fraud scheme.
Contributing: John Fritze
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Donald Trump to host Kim Kardashian at White House to highlight pardons
