Kim Kardashian West arrives at the White House for Donald Trump meeting

BAFFLED people all over the world have lost it over Kim Kardashian’s visit to the White House, but she had a good reason.

Kim Kardashian meets Donald Trump at the White House. Picture: White House

KIM Kardashian has met with the President Donald Trump at the White House to make a high-profile case for prison reform and advocate on behalf of a grandmother who’s serving a life sentence for drug offences.

The Keeping Up With The Kardashians star arrived at the White House on Wednesday afternoon local time to meet with Jared Kushner — President Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser — who also oversees the administration’s push to overhaul the nation’s prison system.

It’s understood she reached out to Ivanka Trump, who put her in contact with her husband.

Kim Kardashian at the White House — peak 2018. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Kim means business. Picture: Splash News

TV personality Kim Kardashian is seen entering the grounds of the White House on May 30, 2018 in Washington, DC. Credit: AFP Photo/Mandel Ngan

Yep, the White House is that way. Picture: Richard Beetham / SplashNews.com

In a meeting which reportedly lasted “less than an hour”, the reality TV star urged President Donald Trump to pardon Alice Marie Johnson, 63, who has spent more than two decades behind bars and is not eligible for parole.

Kim Kardashian has left the White House.
Less than an hour here. https://t.co/XrcVCoxrr5

— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) May 30, 2018

According to US media reports, Johnson’s conviction stemmed from her role in a multimillion-dollar drug ring that dealt thousands of kilograms of cocaine.

The New York Daily News also mocked the meeting with a fairly brutal front page and headline which read: “The Only Kim He Could Get.”

An overrated reality TV star met with Kim Kardashian https://t.co/aFly7MJdnU

Here's a look at Thursday's front... pic.twitter.com/3bAQo8ezDE

— New York Daily News (@NYDailyNews) May 31, 2018

Afterwards, Mr Trump tweeted a fairly awkward photo of himself and Kardashian in the Oval Office.

Great meeting with @KimKardashian today, talked about prison reform and sentencing. pic.twitter.com/uOy4UJ41JF

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 30, 2018

Within seconds, the bizarro photo of this meeting of the minds became the talk of Twitter:

Show this tweet to someone in 2014 and their head would explode. https://t.co/QPaWOzF6em

— Mark Di Stefano 🤙🏻 (@MarkDiStef) May 30, 2018

America. Officially eaten itself. https://t.co/0Qv7pNoasx

— Latika M Bourke (@latikambourke) May 30, 2018

This is America pic.twitter.com/9RBpzviDIL

— Darren Hayes (@darrenhayes) May 30, 2018

OK, let's recap:

Donald Trump is president.

Kim Kardashian is heading to the White House to discuss policy.

A Russian journalist dead yesterday turns up at a presser today.

North Korea won't give up nukes but will open a burger chain as consolation.

The day isn't half over.

— Peter Daou (@peterdaou) May 30, 2018

Kim Kardashian is speaking politics in the White House with Donald Trump. We have reached the end. 🤦🏾‍♂️ pic.twitter.com/HELzkGCn3v

— Saun Jones (@KeSaunJ) May 30, 2018

It’s really nice of Kim to check up on Melania. https://t.co/Idm0s5z8zG

— Alex Anastassiou (@alexanasta_) May 30, 2018

from les deux to the oval office, a lot changes in a decade! pic.twitter.com/E4oGwByvwM

— popculturediedin2009 (@pcd2009) May 30, 2018

please stop tweeting that photo

— Calvin (@calvinstowell) May 30, 2018

Kardashian is one of the very few celebrities who have visited the White House since Mr Trump took office in 2016. She was seen posing for photos in front of the West Wing before entering the room.

In an interview with the website Mic, Kardashian said she had been incredibly moved by Johnson’s story, after seeing a video by the news outlet on Twitter.

She reached out to her longtime personal lawyer, Shawn Holley, to ask him to look at the case and is paying for a new legal team for Johnson.

Just last week, the president granted a rare posthumous pardon to boxing’s first black heavyweight champion, clearing Jack Johnson’s name more than 100 years after what many saw as his racially charged conviction.

The pardon had been championed by actor Sylvester Stallone, who called Mr Trump personally to discuss the case.

WHO IS ALICE MARIE JOHNSON?

Alice Marie Johnson. Picture: Change.org

Alice Marie Johnson was convicted in 1996 on eight criminal counts related to a Memphis- based cocaine trafficking operation involving more than a dozen people. The 1994 indictment describes dozens of deliveries and drug transactions, many involving Johnson.

She was sentenced to life in prison in 1997, and appellate judges and the U.S. Supreme Court have rejected her appeals. Court records show she has a motion pending for a reduction in her sentence, but federal prosecutors are opposed, saying in a court filing that the sentence is in accord with federal guidelines, based on the large quantity of drugs involved.

A criminal justice advocacy site, CAN-DO, and one of Johnson’s attorneys say a request for clemency was rejected by former President Barack Obama. The reasons are unclear.

A 1997 Associated Press story on Johnson’s sentencing said she headed up a multimillion-dollar drug ring. But Memphis attorney Michael Scholl, who filed the latest court documents in her request for a sentence reduction, said she was not a leader in the cocaine operation.

“What is the purpose of putting a lady with no prior criminal record, on a nonviolent drug offense, in jail for her entire life?” he said in a telephone interview. “She’s a model inmate.” Scholl added that Johnson has admitted her wrongdoing, which is borne out in letters she has written to U.S. District Judge Samuel H. Mays, who now oversees her case.

“Judge Mays I’m writing to you to express my deep remorse for the crime that I committed over 20 years ago. I made some bad choices which have not only affected my life, but have impacted my entire family,” she said in a February 2017 letter in the court record.

- with Wires