According to an insider source with the campaign, Vice President Kamala Harris' brother-in-law, who had previously backed the infamous "American Taliban," has joined her completely reorganized campaign staff. 

Following his five-year stay in the Justice Department of the Obama administration and subsequent high-level posts at PepsiCo and Uber, Tony West, who is 58 years old, will work as a "powerful adviser" to the Harris campaign for the presidency, according to Axios.

This move comes after West's aforementioned periods of time working as a defense attorney.

West, who is married to Harris' sister, Maya, also worked as an attorney for the legal firm Morrison & Foerster, which is in San Francisco. While there, he defended the notorious John Walker Lindh.

The Case in Question

American forces captured Lindh as an enemy combatant in November 2001. Lindh had fled the US to train with Osama bin Laden and fight for the Taliban in Afghanistan.

“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 10 federal charges, including conspiracy to murder US citizens and contributing services to al Qaeda.

He admitted in a 2002 plea deal that he had supplied services to the Taliban and had carried an explosive during the commission of a felony; he served 17 years of a 20-year sentence for these offenses.

The Administration

This week, the administration also came under fire for allegedly proposing plea bargains to three individuals who were suspected of plotting the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001. These plea deals would have spared the individuals from the death penalty.

In a shocking decision, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin stated on Friday that he had withdrawn the pre-trial agreements.

The agreements were previously given to Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the suspected mastermind of the al Qaeda attacks, as well as his two alleged aides, Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak Bin Attash and Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawsawi.

More Changes

In addition to West, Harris has recently brought on board a number of new employees that have connections to former President Barack Obama.

According to Reuters, David Plouffe, who served as the manager of Barack Obama's presidential campaign in 2008 and as a top advisor to the former president during the campaign in 2012, has joined the Harris campaign as a senior adviser.

The site claimed on Friday that Mitch Stewart, a veteran of both Obama campaigns, and Stephanie Cutter, who served as Obama's White House communications director and deputy campaign manager, have both joined the Harris team.