According to a report, Vice President Kamala Harris’ brother-in-law, who previously defended the infamous “American Taliban,” has joined her newly revamped campaign team.
Tony West, 58, will serve as a “powerful adviser” to Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign, according to Axios. This move follows his five-year tenure in the Obama administration’s Justice Department and subsequent high-level positions at PepsiCo and Uber.
West, who is married to Harris’ sister Maya, also worked as an attorney at the San Francisco-based law firm Morrison & Foerster, where he defended the notorious John Walker Lindh, according to the Washington Free Beacon.
John Walker Lindh, who left the U.S. to train with Osama bin Laden and fight for the Taliban in Afghanistan, was captured by American forces as an enemy combatant in November 2001.
The following year, West agreed to defend Lindh, arguing in court that he was not a terrorist.
“He is not a terrorist,” Harris’ new hire told the Washington Post in 2002.
“He did not go to Afghanistan to kill Americans,” West said of the then 21-year-old Lindh.
Lindh faced ten federal charges, including conspiracy to murder U.S. citizens and providing services to al Qaeda.
In 2002, he accepted a plea deal in which he admitted to providing services to the Taliban and carrying an explosive during the commission of a felony. He served 17 years of a 20-year sentence.
This week, the Biden administration faced criticism for offering plea deals to three individuals accused of plotting the 9/11 terrorist attacks, which would have spared them from the death penalty.
In a surprising move, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced on Friday that he had revoked the pre-trial agreements granted to Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the accused mastermind of the al Qaeda attacks, along with his alleged accomplices Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak Bin Attash and Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawsawi.
Along with West, Harris has recently brought on several new hires with connections to former President Barack Obama.
David Plouffe, who managed Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign and served as a senior aide during the 2012 campaign, has joined Team Harris as a senior adviser, according to Reuters.
Also joining the Harris campaign are Stephanie Cutter, Obama’s former White House communications director and deputy campaign manager, and Mitch Stewart, a veteran of both Obama campaigns, the outlet reported on Friday.
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