Kim Kardashian to join Harris for roundtable with pardon recipients

Kim Kardashian will join Vice President Harris at the White House on Thursday for a roundtable on criminal justice reform that will highlight President Biden’s use of pardon power.

A White House official said Kardashian, a reality television star who has become an outspoken advocate for criminal justice reform in recent years, will attend the discussion alongside Harris, pardon recipients and Steve Benjamin, the director of the White House Office of Public Engagement.

Kardashian worked closely with the Trump White House on the case of Alice Johnson, a Black woman who had received a life sentence for a nonviolent drug offense and had her sentence commuted by then-President Trump.

The roundtable comes a day after Biden granted clemency to 16 people who were convinced of nonviolent drug offenses. Four of those people will be in attendance for Thursday’s event.

As part of the roundtable, Harris will announce the finalization of a Small Business Administration rule to remove restrictions on loan eligibility based on a person’s criminal record.

Biden has pardoned numerous people for nonviolent drug offenses, citing the moves as part of a broader effort to address racial disparities and to give deserving Americans a second chance. In October 2022, he announced pardons for thousands of people who had been convicted of simple marijuana possession under federal law.

Harris last month convened a roundtable focused on marijuana reform, where she was joined by rapper Fat Joe and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D).