Vice President Kamala Harris‘ brother-in-law Tony West and one of her closest political advisors once defended the infamous ‘American Taliban‘ John Walker Lindh, who joined the radical terrorist organization even though he was an American citizen.
West, who is married to Harris’ sister Maya Harris, is considered one of the vice president’s closet political confidants, even though he does not have a formal position with her campaign team. His influence on the campaign is expected to be more prominent as Harris runs for president.
West began his career as a lawyer where he took a high-profile defense case in the governments case against Lindh in 2002, after he was found in Afghanistan by U.S. military forces in November 2001.
An early convert to Islam, Lindh joined the Taliban and went to Afghanistan and received military training in 2000. Even after 9/11, Lindh remained with the group until he was discovered by American forces and charged for providing assistance for Al Qaeda and the Taliban.
West, then a member of San Francisco based law firm Morrison & Foerster, was on Lindh’s legal team and fought with the George W. Bush’s administration to lower his sentence.
Kamala Harris in 2003 with her mother, Shyamala Harris, brother-in-law Tony West and sister, Maya Harris
West even spoke with The Washington Post for an extended interview to discuss the case and argue on his client’s behalf.
‘Whatever John is, he is not a terrorist, and he did not go to Afghanistan to kill Americans, he said.
West and his team of lawyers secured a plea deal for Lindh that ended up with him a prison sentence for up to 20 years.
Kamala Harris’ brother-in-law defended American Taliban’ John Walker Lindh in court
Tony West and Vice President Kamala Harris
Lindh was released in 2019, but was found by the FBI in 2021 to have met three times with a convicted ISIS supporter, Ali Amin.
West went on to work for the Justice Department under former President Barack Obama and then-Attorney General Eric Holder.
In 2012, West was appointed to oversee the Justice Department policies for detainees suspected of terrorism at the Guantanamo Bay detentions facility.
Tony West and Vice President Kamala Harris
Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at the American Federation of Teachers
Since leaving government, West has leveraged his political and legal connections into prominent positions with PepsiCo before joining Uber where he now earns a $10 million annual salary.
West also advised Harris during her 2020 campaign, despite advising her not to run for president against her fellow Democrats including former Vice President Joe Biden.
Her presidential 2020 primary campaign ultimately devolved into infighting and finger-pointing with no clear leadership and structure, ending before she even made it to the Iowa caucus.
West was defensive about his role in her failed campaign, recalling that an old advertisement was in his mind still the best message for the vice president as she sought the presidency.
‘Still my fav political ad. 5 years old and it’s aged pretty damn well,’ he wrote on social media just days after Biden dropped out of the race.
