Trump May Appoint Former Drug Prisoner He Freed As New ‘Pardon Czar’

President Donald Trump is reportedly planning to appoint a person whose sentence for a drug-related conviction he commuted to a new role as the nation’s “pardon czar” responsible for facilitating future clemency actions.

According to recent reporting, Trump intends to create a role for Alice Marie Johnson to serve as a designated pardon official at the White House.

While the specific responsibilities of a pardon czar remain unclear—and the administration has not yet confirmed reports about the expected appointment for the role—Johnson herself received a presidential commutation from Trump during his last term in 2018 while serving a life sentence related to cocaine trafficking charges. Trump later issued Johnson a pardon in 2020.

Johnson has since become an influential advocate for criminal justice reform.

Marijuana Moment reached out to the White House for comment on the potential appointment plans, which were first reported by The New York Times, but a representative was not immediately available.

“Alice Johnson has been a relentless advocate for second chances, and her own story is a testament to the power of redemption,” Weldon Angelos, another presidential clemency recipient under Trump who went on to found the criminal justice non-profit The Weldon Project, told Marijuana Moment.

“If she’s appointed as pardon czar, I believe she will bring compassion, experience, and a deep understanding of justice to the role. She knows the urgency of clemency and will work to ensure that more deserving people are reunited with their families,” he said. “The creation of a pardon czar position is a significant step in prioritizing clemency and criminal justice reform, signaling a commitment to addressing injustices in the system and ensuring that mercy is applied more fairly and efficiently.”

Meanwhile, in 2023, Trump was confronted with the fact that his proposed plan to impose the death penalty on people who sell drugs would have potentially condemned Johnson, who his administration promoted as an example of a key criminal justice reform achievement during his first term.

The reported pardon czar development comes in the background of multiple top-level cabinet nominations and Senate confirmations of administration officials with mixed records on drug policy reform, which advocates and stakeholders have been following closely to see if Trump will push for marijuana policy changes.

For example, Trump recently nominated a vociferously anti-cannabis official to serve as the lead attorney at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), drawing praise from prohibitionists.

While HHS under the Biden administration has already recommended rescheduling cannabis following a scientific review, that process has been delayed, raising questions about the potential influence of new administrative appointees.

HHS’s general counsel is responsible for providing legal advice, interpreting regulatory policies and overseeing litigation involving the agency, among other roles, and so if Stuart is confirmed by the Senate he could be key in any future agency interpretations of the Controlled Substances Act’s requirements when it comes to marijuana’s scheduling status.

By contrast to the HHS general counsel nominee, the recently Senate-confirmed secretary of HHS, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was previously vocal about his support for marijuana legalization.

Despite that stated support, however, following his confirmation Kennedy said last week that he is “worried about” the normalization of high-potency marijuana and that he feels its use can have “really catastrophic impacts” on people, but that state-level legalization can facilitate research into its harms and benefits.

The comments came on the same day that Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-NE) said he received a commitment from Kennedy to “follow the science on the harms of marijuana.”

Ricketts had already disclosed last week that he spoke to Kennedy about the the “importance” of “preventing the expansion of marijuana.” Now he says “RFK committed to me that he would follow the science on the harms of marijuana.”

The senator separately filed a bill last week alongside Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) that seeks to prevent the marijuana industry from taking federal tax deductions even if it’s rescheduling.

Despite Kennedy’s history of advocating for cannabis legalization, he said last month that he will defer to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) on marijuana rescheduling in his new role.

That could complicate rescheduling. Last week, Trump officially named his pick to lead DEA—selecting a decades-long agency veteran and top Virginia official who’s voiced concerns about the dangers of marijuana and linked its use to higher suicide risk among youth.

Separately, anti-marijuana Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD) told Marijuana Moment recently that it’s “definitely” time to have a talk with Kennedy to convince him that “marijuana is harmful” and that the way to make Americans healthy is by “limiting” its use.

Prior to Kennedy’s written responses to members of the Senate Finance Committee that gave him initial approval, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) pressed him to reiterate his position on marijuana legalization amid the ongoing effort to federally reschedule cannabis.

A political action committee founded by former Vice President Mike Pence had attempted to undermine the confirmation Kennedy as HHS secretary—in part by drawing attention to his support for marijuana and psychedelics reform, as well as his personal history with substance misuse.