Trump considering pardon for boxing legend and activist Muhammad Ali even though his conviction was overturned
The Associated Press is reporting that President Donald Trump may pardon deceased boxing great Muhammad Ali.
Addressing questions from reporters before departing from for the G7 summit in Canada, Trump expressed that he was considering pardoning many other people including the boxing legend and activist Ali.
It’s unclear exactly what Trump would be pardoning Muhammad Ali for considering that the boxer’s 1967 conviction for refusing to report for induction into the United States military forces during the Vietnam War was eventually overturned.
The U.S. Supreme Court threw out the conviction four years later, so it’s unclear why President Trump would offer a pardon to the former heavyweight and Olympic champ Muhammad Ali.
Ali’s attorney released a statement this morning confirming that a pardon is unnecessary.
Statement by atty for Muhammad Ali: “We appreciate President Trump’s sentiment, but a pardon is unnecessary.” @WHAS11 pic.twitter.com/0gV3R1beyI
— Chris Williams (@chriswnews) June 8, 2018
This news comes on the heels of the president commuting the prison sentence of Alice Marie Johnson on Wednesday.
The 63-year old grandmother had already served 21 years of a life sentence after being convicted on charges of conspiracy to possess cocaine and attempted possession of cocaine. Johnson, a first-time non-violent drug offender, was released a week after Kim Kardashian pleaded her case with Trump.
“When he said he has the papers in front of him and he’s signing it … my heart was so full,” Kim Kardashian explained to Van Jones in a CNN interview.
Kardashian has been advocating for Johnson’s release and even hired high-powered attorney to the stars Shawn Holley to help with the case. Last week, Kardashian met with Trump to seek a pardon for the mother of five.
She was also the first to call Johnson and give her the good news.
“I was like ‘you’re going home,’” Kardashian said yesterday, recalling the conversation with Johnson during an interview with CNN’s Van Jones.
Johnson screamed when she heard she was finally going home.
“We cried, maybe, on the phone for like three minutes straight,” said an emotional Kardashian.
“Everyone was just crying,”
“He said he had investigated the case, speaking to several people, including Johnson’s warden, and everyone had a unanimous feeling of Alice, that she will live a great life.”
When she met with Trump, Kardashian said she was laser-focused to get her point across about Johnson.
“I was very focused. I knew that if I have this meeting, I can’t go in there and talk about all the policies that I don’t agree with,” she said.
And she said she knew she was taking a chance and would get backlash, but she believed in Johnson’s case.
“I knew people wouldn’t understand it. And at that point, I had to make the decision that this was bigger than me,” she said.
Trump has also pardoned Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio, former Vice President Dick Cheney’s chief of staff I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, and boxer Jack Johnson most recently, conservative author Dinesh D’Souza.
