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President Trump granted clemency to Alice Marie Johnson, a 63-year-old woman sentenced to life in prison. The move comes a week after Trump met with Kim Kardashian West, who became involved in Johnsons case after viewing a viral video last year.

WASHINGTON PresidentDonald Trump will host Kim Kardashian Westat 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 Houses attention. Johnson will also attendWednesdays 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 Johnsons 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. RodBlagojevich and former New York City police commissioner Bernard Kerik. Trump has also often touted the "First Step Act," developed by Kushner anda 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

President Donald Trump and Kim Kardashian(Photo: AP)

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Exclusive: Trump to host Kim Kardashian West at the White House to discuss criminal justice reform - USA TODAY

Bravo, Donald Trump.

I never imagined I would ever write these three words. It pains me, in fact, to see them on the page.

But credit where credit is due. Over the weekend, at the Sheraton hotel in Doha, Qatar, the Trump administration was able to achieve in its first term what the Bush and Obama administrations were either unable or unwilling to do over two terms each: Sign a peace deal with the Taliban.

Officially entitled Agreement for Bringing Peace to Afghanistan, this three-part, four-page document guarantees a timeline of 14 months for the complete withdrawal of all U.S. and NATO troops from Afghanistan; a Taliban pledge that Afghan soil will not be used against the security of the United States and its allies; the launch of intra-Afghan negotiations by March 10; and a permanent and comprehensive ceasefire.

No peace deal is perfect, and the Agreement for Bringing Peace to Afghanistan is no exception to that rule. But it is the beginning of a much-delayed diplomatic process to bring an end to Americas longest and most unpopular war. Trump tried and failed to do it in 2019. In 2020, he may have succeeded.

Dont get me wrong: I have no doubt that if Barack Obama had signed such a deal with the Taliban, he would have been pilloried by the same Republican politicians and Fox News pundits now cheering Trumps agreement. Obama, for example, was scorned and slammed for releasing five Taliban detainees in exchange for a captured U.S. soldier, Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, in 2014; Trump, on the other hand, has agreed to the release of an astonishing 5,000 Taliban prisoners.

I am also aware that Trump has never been consistent on Afghanistan, nor does he give a damn about ordinary Afghans. He has cut U.S. aid to the country; bragged about dropping the mother of all bombs on it; pardoned two U.S. army officers accused of committing war crimes in Afghanistan; and casually and repeatedly discussed killing millions of Afghans, including in his speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference on Saturday. Last year, according to the U.N., there were more than 10,000 civilian casualties in Afghanistan, with around a quarter of them killed or wounded by the U.S. military and its allies. Their blood is on Trumps hands in the same way that the blood of thousands of Afghan civilians killed and injured between January 2009 and January 2017 is on Obamas.

For far too long, Iraq was the bad war and Afghanistan the good war. Yet there was nothing good about the decision to invade and occupy Afghanistan. None of the 19 hijackers were Afghans. The 9/11 plot was hatched in Hamburg, Germany, not Kabul or Kandahar. Yes, there were Al Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan but the Taliban, lest we forget, had agreed to hand over Osama bin Laden to a third country, on the condition that the United States provided some evidence of his guilt. The Bush administration refused.

Nevertheless, in September 2001, there was massive support across the political spectrum for attacking the Taliban in Afghanistan. The vast majority of Americans backed Bushs decision to invade and believed it would end in victory. So did the New York Times editorial board. The only member of Congress to oppose the conflict was the indomitable Rep. Barbara Lee, who warned of the danger of embarking on an open-ended war with neither an exit strategy nor a focused target.

Nearly two decades later, it is difficult to overstate what a catastrophic disaster this particular open-ended war has been both for the American and Afghan peoples. Where to begin? Some 2,400 American soldiers killed and more than 20,000 wounded. More than 58,000 Afghan security forces killed. More than 100,000 Afghan civilian casualties. More than half the population below the poverty line. More than $2 trillion spent. A quadrupling in opium production. Endemic corruption. War crimes. The cover-up of child sexual abuse. The rise of ISIS in Afghanistan. The list goes on.

Today, the Taliban control or contest nearly half the countrys districts which, according to data from the Pentagon, is more territory than at any point since 2001. Meanwhile, five months after the Afghan presidential election, the official winner Ashraf Ghani is still trying to form a government while his main rival Abdullah Abdullah has declared himself the victor, crying fraud and treason in the process.

It wasnt only the Iraq invasion that was defined by official deceit and dishonesty. As a damning investigation by the Washington Post, based on leaked government documents, revealed in December 2019, senior U.S. officials failed to tell the truth about the war in Afghanistan throughout the 18-year campaign, making rosy pronouncements they knew to be false and hiding unmistakable evidence the war had become unwinnable.

Those who now line up to criticize or condemn Trump for trying to end this unwinnable war have yet to grapple with the shocking revelations contained in these Afghanistan Papers. Trump, of course, isnt interested in peace or the truth. The U.S. president craves a photo op with Taliban leaders and knows that he also needs a diplomatic win. Above all else, he hopes to use a U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan to bolster his prospects for reelection in November.

But guess what? Sometimes bad people do the right thing for the wrong reasons. Yes, Trump is an awful president and an even more awful person. But just as only Nixon could go to China, perhaps only Trump could do this historic deal with the Taliban.

As political scientist Barnett Rubin, who has advised both the U.S. State Department and the United Nations on Afghanistan, told me, no rational, conventional, predictable U.S. politician would take the political risks needed to negotiate seriously with the Taliban.

Will a deal between the two sides hold? Can either Trump or the Taliban be trusted to stick to the terms of the agreement? Does it give away too much to the insurgents, in return for too little? Maybe. The bigger question, according to International Crisis Group President Robert Malley, is:Whats the alternative?

The fact that the Taliban got so much out of the deal is not, primarily, a result of anything the Trump administration did, Malley told me. It is because, after two decades, the U.S. has failed to win an unwinnable war.

For Malley, who was a senior foreign policy adviser to Obama, it would have been far preferable if a deal had been reached years ago, when the Taliban were in a weaker position but it would be far worse if a deal were not reached now, based on the illusory belief that, somehow, the Taliban will be in a weaker position tomorrow.

As with Iran and the nuclear agreement, though, there are plenty of hawks in Washington, D.C., who still want to hold out for a better deal in Afghanistan.

Theyre deluded.

For a deal to work, it requires agreement on all sides. A better deal that one side rejects is not a deal at all, but a dream of a better world, said Rubin. We all have such dreams, but eventually we have to wake up.

Unless, he added, we are dead.

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On Afghanistan, I Have to Say This: Bravo, Donald Trump - The Intercept

U.S. forces said they carried out a defensive airstrike against Taliban fighters in Afghanistan Wednesday to halt an attack by the fighters in a wave of violence that has thrown into question the high-stakes peace agreement signed by the militant group over the weekend.

The American strike, which officials said was against Taliban fighters attacking a U.S.-backed Afghan military checkpoint, came less than a day after President Trump spoke with a top Taliban leader and expressed confidence the peace deal would hold.

On Tuesday, Mr. Trump told reporters he had a good conversation with Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, who signed the peace agreement with U.S. officials Saturday. The president suggested the two had agreed that an 11-day-old reduction in violence pact tied to the deal was working.

Weve agreed theres no violence, Mr. Trump said. We dont want violence.

However, the U.S.-backed Afghan government says the Taliban has carried out several attacks against Afghan forces over the past 24 hours.

The Afghan Interior Ministry said four civilians and 11 Afghan troops were killed Wednesday by Taliban attacks in various areas of the country.

Ministry spokesman Nasrat Rahimi said the U.S.-backed Afghan forces had responded and killed at least 17 Taliban during clashes. The Afghan Defense Ministry separately said seven Afghan soldiers were killed when Taliban fighters attacked a checkpoint in the nations northern Kunduz province.

It was not immediately clear Wednesday how the wave of violence will impact the delicate peace process in Afghanistan.

There was no immediate comment from the Trump administration.

A spokesman for U.S. Forces in Afghanistan (USFOR-A) said on Twitter Wednesday morning that the U.S. side remains committed to peace, but also dedicated to defending U.S-backed Afghan government forces.

Taliban leadership promised the intl community they would reduce violence and not increase attacks, USFOR-A spokesman Col. Sonny Legget tweeted. We call on the Taliban to stop needless attacks and uphold their commitments. As we have demonstrated, we will defend our partners when required.

Col. Legget said U.S. forces had conducted an airstrike Wednesday against Taliban fighters, who were actively attacking an Afghan government checkpoint in the nations southern Helmand province a Taliban stronghold.

This was a defensive strike to disrupt the attack, Col. Legget said, noting that it was the first U.S. strike since the reduction in violence pact went into effect 11 days ago.

The reduction pact had paved the way for Saturdays inking of a wider peace deal between Washington and the Taliban, a deal that could see the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan and the gradual end of Americas longest war.

U.S. officials have said the deal will only go forward if the reduction of violence pact holds. The next stage of the peace process will also be contingent on direct talks between the Taliban and representatives of the U.S.-backed Afghan government. U.S. officials have said those talks could commence in Oslo, Norway, during the coming weeks.

Reuters reported Wednesday that the Taliban had made a decision this week to resume its regular attack operations against Afghan government forces, but would continue to hold back on attacks on U.S. and other foreign troops in Afghanistan.

During recent weeks, analysts have questioned whether ground-level Taliban commanders in various areas of Afghanistan would adhere to the peace agreement that was negotiated and inked between U.S. officials and Taliban leaders in Doha, Qatar.

This article is based in part on wire service reports.

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Donald Trump's Taliban deal thrown into question by wave of attacks and U.S. strike - Washington Times

Ricky L. Jones, Opinion contributor Published 6:49 a.m. ET March 4, 2020

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During the commemoration of the 55th anniversary of Bloody Sunday, the ailing Prince of Troy (Alabama), John Lewis, returned to Selma and encouraged those present to keep (their)eyes on the prize.

Of course, at this historical moment, it is perfectly legitimate to ask, what exactly is the prize for black people? Is it simply voting? Is it perennially and unquestioningly joining with Democrats in their ongoing war with the Republicans for political seats? Or is something more at stake?

Undoubtedly, Democrats would argue the prize is defeating Donald Trump. While this would be a desirable outcome for many, truly conscious black people, as were their ancestors, are not singularly obsessed with defeating Donald Trump, but with destroying white supremacy in its myriad manifestations. Any candidate not sharing in this goal should be unacceptable.

To be sure, this struggle is muddied by the deceptive narratives and tired clichs mainstream media, politiciansand their supporters nauseatingly proffer. For example, a current one concerns electability. We hear endless variations of, Democrats must expand the electorate to beat Donald Trump.

Ironically, this argument actually confirms the presence and power of white supremacy in America. Translation: Democrats need to convince as many black and brown people as possible, along with a minority of whites, to support them in stopping the majority of whites from reelecting Donald Trump.

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Remember, about 52% of white women and 63% of white men voted for Trump in 2016. In 2020, they are saying, No matter how malfeasant, mendacious, viciousand racist Donald Trump has proven himself to be, the majority of white Americans still prefer him.

All the obstacles to dismantling white supremacy do not lie outside the race. As Carter G. Woodson warned, a good percentage of the black masses remain miseducated, misled and easily politically exploited. For the most part, the petit black bourgeoisie is not interested in helping, either.

Robert Allen accurately observed inBlack Awakening in Capitalist America, that what many in the black privileged class seek is not an end to oppression, but the transfer of the oppressive apparatus into their own hands in order to advance their own interests.

Suffering people need political revolutions real structural change. But, in the midst of political sleight of hand from both parties, black choices become obfuscated and limited. For instance, while simultaneously begging black voters in South Carolina to save him, gaffe-prone Joe Biden commented, Americans dont want a revolution, they want progress.

It was reminiscent of the accommodationist Booker T. Washingtons 1895 claim to an all-white, segregationist audience in Atlanta, In all things that are purely social, we (blacks and whites) can be as separate as the fingers, yet one as the hand in all things essential to mutual progress.

Like Washington, who had a nasty tendency to personally advance at the expense of his people, Bidens idea of progress isnt very clear.

Biden isnt alone in his confusing moderation. Inarguably, on the Democratic side, only two candidates are transformative Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. Though she is a superior political athlete, Warren has failed to gain traction for whatever reason. This leaves Sanders as the only remaining viable political revolutionary, and the moderates (Translation: politicians who, for all intents and purposes, are supportive of the structural status quo) launched an all-out assault against him prior to Super Tuesday.

More opinion: We need a calming voice on the coronavirus, not Trump's political rants

Racially challenged moderates Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar both dropped out of the race and endorsed Biden. Klobuchar did so after she was forced to cancel a rally in her home state of Minnesota because black voters vociferously protested her.

Klobuchar wasnt the only target of black resistance. On the same weekend John Lewis returned to Selma, former Republican and black antagonist Mike Bloomberg was there as well lobbying for votes at historic Brown Chapel AME Church. It did not go well. A small group of black parishioners silently rose and turned their backs on him.

Be clear! This should not be read as an endorsement of Republicans. It is not! Most black people know the GOP is cold-heartedly hostile towardthem. That said, we need to ask hard questions of the Democrats. Because candidates need the votes of the partys most loyal constituency, theres a lot of talk about black people right now, but how much of it addresses systemic suffering rooted in race? How long will their attention last? Seriously, how much do they talk to, or about, black people BETWEEN elections?

Also understand this is not a call for black people not to vote. It is, however, a plea to demand a political environment in which choices are not limited to witchy Republicans or devilish Democrats neither of which will seriously challenge a status quo rooted in white supremacy.

Indeed, referencing Americas demonization of Bernie Sanders, Princeton professor Eddie Glaude lamented, I wish some people were as unsettled by white nationalists as they are by democratic socialists. But alas, they arent even though most cant define democratic socialism.

Ricky L. Jones is chair of Pan-African Studies at the University of Louisville. His column appears bi-weekly in The Courier Journal. Follow him on Twitter @DrRickyLJones.

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Opinion: For black people, the real 'prize' is not defeating Donald Trump - Courier Journal

Dolan J. Trump is a parody Twitter accounta mashup of the New York Knicks petty, spiteful, and incompetent owner James Dolan, and the 45th President of the United States. For those who enjoy that sort of thing, it does a wonderful job of aping Trumps thunderous, all-caps social media missives, save for the fact that his spittle-flecked rage is aimed at New York basketball beat reporters and not The New York Times. Funny stuff, to be sure.

The humor really hits home on a day like Tuesday, when the team chucked gasoline on a simmering feud with Spike Lee, the Oscar-winning director and possibly the worlds most famous Knicks fan. By the time the dust kicked up by all the accusations and counter-accusations had settled, the director had sworn never to set foot in Madison Square Garden again. (Next season, maybe.) Not after the Knicks had publicly called Lee, a truly devoted Knicks die-hard, a shameless liar trying to gin up drama.

The most exhaustingor endlessly amusing, for non-Knicks fansaspect to this cringeworthy diaper-filling contest? None of it was remotely necessary. In another, slightly less stupid universe, the Knicks had the opportunity to score a much-needed and exceedingly rare public relations win, even, instead of yet another in a series of self-inflicted wounds.

All they had to do was offer a few gracious words, even if Lees outrage was unwarranted and histrionic. But no. No team in all of sports more closely resembles the personality of their owner than the Knicks: paranoid, endlessly resentful, and either unable or unwilling to let any perceived slight slide. Dolan J. Trump account notwithstanding, comparing anyone to Trump is lazy and inevitably fails. (Despite ordering The Rockettes to perform at the inauguration, another reason the comparison doesnt work is that Dolan lacks an army of MAGA chuds whove got his backevery Knicks fan with an operating cerebral cortex realizes hes a delusional twit.) But the gag works because of days like Tuesday, when the Knicks behaved in as Trumpian a manner as anyone not working in the Oval Office.

The idiocy kicked off Monday evening, when a video of Lee shouting at Madison Square Garden personnel began circulating online. Evidently, for years, the 62-year-old filmmaker and season ticket-holder has avoided the inconveniences of entering the arena with the rest of the hoi polloi. Instead, Lee has been allowed to mingle with employees and the credentialed press in a separate entrance. Security personnel told Lee that this privilege would no longer be afforded, and he had to exit and then re-enter MSG. Lee got mad, claiming no one had informed him of the change in policy. No one told me. No one told me, Lee said in the video. If you want to arrest me like Charles Oakley, go the fuck ahead.

Eventually, Lee made his way to his usual courtside seat, and that appeared to be that. Reader, it was not.

According to Lee, while heading home he saw a statement the Knicks PR team put out claiming the issue regarding the entrance had been amicably resolved. Lee grew upset once again, and so on Tuesday morning he unpacked all of his feelings on ESPNs First Take:

At halftime of Monday nights Knicks-Houston Rockets game, Dolan himself approached Lee, presumably to make amends. During their brief confab last night, Lee claims Dolan told him now you know about the change in entrance rules. Therefore, Dolan was harassing him, Lee said. How is it the wrong entrance if Ive been using the same entrance for 28 years! Its Garden spin!

Oh and Lee also confessed that he pays $299,000 for two courtside season tickets, during which time hes suffered through more shitty basketball than any normal human being should be expected to tolerate. Looking back, Lee said it makes him look like a mamaluke, Italian slang for a stupid, foolish person.

All of his remaining tickets have been given away, though he may return next season. Lets pause here for a moment. Imagine you are running the PR shop for a business concern valued at $4.6 billion. How to respond, here? One option might have been to apologize to the superfan and say hes welcome back whenever he so desires. Maybe you think thats a crock of horseshit, and Lee is pitching a hissy fit over what appears by all accounts to be a minor inconvenience? Why not extend an olive branch, and reverse the perception that the team is incredibly thin-skinned? Reader, they did not.

Why not extend an olive branch, and reverse the perception that the team is incredibly thin-skinned? Reader, they did not.

The idea that Spike Lee is a victim because we have repeatedly asked him to not use our employee entrance and instead use a dedicated VIP entrancewhich is used by every other celebrity who enters The Gardenis laughable, the Knicks said in a statement posted to Twitter shortly after Lees ESPN segment aired. Its disappointing that Spike would create this false controversy to perpetuate drama.

Just to hammer the point home: the Knicks seized on a single claim made by Lee on First Take. Namely, that he and Dolan never shook hands. As evidence, they posted a Zapruder-level photo presumably culled from security footage showing Lee and Dolan mid-handshake:

Naturally, by Tuesday afternoon Lee fired back at the Knicks. Whats laughable is how the Knicks are the laughing stock of the league in sports, said Lee. Thats whats fucking laughable. While he confessed to being wrong about that handshake, Lee is sure its all a vast conspiracy:

Lee is clearly milking this for all its worth, and hell, the Knicks may even be in the right regarding the employee entrance. It doesnt matter.

What does matter is they have once again reinforced the perception that any beef will inevitably be escalated and vengeance exacted and that the team is incompetent. Theres a very good reason this perception exists. They sicced security on a fan yelling fire Dolan in November and again in January. Yet another fan was escorted from the arena in May 2019, and Dolan alleged the fan had cleverly set out to ambush him. After Charles Oakley was dragged from the arena in handcuffs, Dolan called him a drunk. (A lawsuit filed by Oakley was recently dismissed.) Fans whove heckled Dolan either via mail or on the street also have substance-abuse issues, per Dolan. And thats just paying customers. When former NBA player Richard Jefferson lobbed a joke about the Knicks, the PR department swung into action, issuing a forceful, strongly worded denial.

But most of Dolans bile has been saved for the local and national press, all of whom have been treated like his sworn enemy going back decades. Of late, hes tried to exact a pound of flesh from New York Daily News reporters and WFAN radio hosts for (rightly) saying and writing true things about his cartoonish, failure-strewn tenure as owner. When the tabloid reported on Dolans involvement with an astroturfed lobbying group, the Knicks official PR Twitter account posted headshots of two obscure Tronc executives, for some bizarre reason.

Professional athletes, including high-priced free agents who might want to ply their trade in New York, pay attention to this sort of thing.

Take Al Harrington, who toiled for the Knicks from 2008 to 2010, and grew up in Orange, New Jersey. Like Lee, he rooted for the team as a kid. Playing at MSG represented a dream come true, he said. Getting embroiled in a flame war with Lee, was, Stupid so stupid. Prior to his stint at MSG, he was confused as to why the team couldnt attract any free agents of note. From his own front-row seat, Harrington came to realize this shit cant get right, said Harrington. The organization, for some reason, just has a funk around it.

Monday marked the first day that ex-CAA agent Leon Rose had been named president of basketball operations. Job one is dispelling the perception held by Harrington, and convincing the rest of the basketball world that hes the one in charge. Tuesdays PR gaffes rendered all that null and void within 24 hours. Whats even more exasperating for Knicks fans (like me) is that if theyd taken the high road, if they engaged in some light bowing and scraping, think of the headlines that would have generated! The press would have marveled at Roses ability to temper Dolans worst instincts, and proclaimed that he clearly had been empowered to fix the Gardens stifling, toxic culture. Those insisting that a culture of fear pervades MSG, as Sports Illustrateds Jonathan Macri tweeted, with employees at all levels of the company terrified of pissing off the boss, might have been forced to reconsider. Not now. Not when Rose has yet to open his mouth about any of this, and Dolan is, by all available evidence, directing their PR efforts.

And anyone still wondering why the worst NBA franchise of the 21st century cant reverse course, this is exhibit A. (Sell, the team, Jim.) Honestly, its exhausting, feeling as if nothing will change, that awful men will continue to spout bile and wreck formerly functional, even beautiful things. Yet the conniption fits and the mindless incompetence will have no impact on the constant stream of profit, and the idea theyd ever face any repercussions is bound to provoke more peals of laughter than anything Dolan J. Trump might post.

Why anyone (like Lee and I) would continue to fork over dollars and emotional currency remains a mystery. Or maybe Lee had it dead right: Were all mamalukes.

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The Donald Trump of the NBA Wages War on Spike Lee, His Team's Biggest Fan - The Daily Beast