Kim Kardashian coming to White House for VP Harris roundtable discussion

Vice President Kamala Harris will hold a roundtable discussion on criminal justice reform with reality TV star and businesswoman Kim Kardashian, three people familiar with the Thursday gathering told POLITICO.

The event, which will take place at the White House, will feature four people who received clemency from the Biden administration yesterday, all of whom were convicted of nonviolent offenses.

“During her remarks, the Vice President will announce the finalization of a Small Business Administration rule that will remove most restrictions on loan eligibility that are based on the person’s criminal record,” said a White House official, who like the others was granted anonymity to discuss internal matters.

Kardashian became a proponent of criminal justice reform during former President Donald Trump’s administration when she visited the White House to push for several pardons and advocate for criminal justice legislation. Her star power lent credence to that cause but her proximity to Trump sparked some blowback among those critical of the former president’s broader record.

Thursday’s event, which was first reported by Axios, has been in the works for some time. One official familiar with how it came together told POLITICO that Harris’ team reached out to Kardashian in early March given her background on working on the issue. Kardashian then requested a meeting with people whom the administration had pardoned or provided clemency.

It's not the first time that Harris has teamed up with celebrities to highlight administration initiatives and — as White House aides concede — place a larger spotlight on accomplishments. Just last month, Harris convened a roundtable with people pardoned for marijuana offenses with rapper Fat Joe.

“Our goal here is to uplift the administration’s actions, specifically our Second Chance policy,” another official said. “She has worked with known individuals with platforms to elevate and spotlight the work the administration has done in this instance as it relates to second chance policies.”

Biden aides also believe that they have not gotten credit for the work they’ve done on criminal justice reform, arguing that there was more attention paid to Trump despite him having fewer breakthroughs.

Teaming up with Kardashian was seen as a way to close that gap.

President Joe Biden has, so far, commuted the sentences of 129 people and issued 24 pardons, according to data from the Department of Justice Office of Pardon Attorney. The 129 is more than any other recent predecessor in their first term in office.

In addition, Biden has taken steps to reduce recidivism, curtail the use of private prisons, elevate public defenders in key judicial positions, limit the application of mandatory minimum sentences and level off punishments for drug offenses.