Kim Kardashian West and her husband Kanye West have reportedly used their connections to the White House to get President Trump involved in aiding A$AP Rocky amid his arrest and legal investigation in Sweden.
A source familiar with the situation tells PEOPLE that Kardashian West — at her husband’s instigation — reached out to the President’s son-in-law, senior advisor Jared Kushner.
“[The situation] was something we had sort of peripherally seen, but she really brought it to the forefront,” the source adds. Kardashian West had developed a relationship with Kushner due to her previous work with the White House on criminal justice reform.
According to the source, Kushner then brought it to the attention of the President, who agreed that “something just needed to be checked to make sure things were appropriate.”
Trump reportedly contacted U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who has been “working tirelessly to make sure that this case is resolved in the most appropriate and fair way for an American citizen,” the source says. Since then, A$AP Rocky’s team has been in contact with the White House, giving periodic updates and making requests.
The 30-year-old rapper, né Rakim Mayers, was arrested in Stockholm on July 2 for suspected assault, along with three others who were involved in the incident. On July 5, a spokesperson from the Stockholm Prosecutor’s Office told PEOPLE that A$AP Rocky would be detained for two weeks while “the prosecutor can gather evidence and look into the case a little further.”
Last Tuesday, a source told PEOPLE that the Swedish jail where A$AP Rocky is being held is “inhumane” and “horrific.” TMZ first reported the news.
“The conditions of the facility are horrific,” the source said. “Some of the inhumane conditions Rocky and his colleagues are facing at the Stockholm Detention Center include 24/7 solitary confinement, restriction of amenities for the most basic of human functions, access to palatable and life-sustaining food as well as unsanitary conditions.”
“Rocky is now being detained for an unknown period of time until they have a trial and he is having his legal and basic human rights ignored while being forced to live in inhumane conditions — all for acting in self-defense,” the source alleged.
Fredrik Wallin, the governor of the prison where A$AP Rocky is being held, refuted the description of the facility put forth in the TMZ report.
“The Swedish Prison and Probation Service has a policy not to comment on individual cases or prisoners,” Wallin told PEOPLE. “However, we can refute the picture of prison Kronoberg which is described in the article in TMZ. To exemplify, prison staff and prisoners drink the same municipal tap water.”
Additionally, a Department of State official told PEOPLE that “we are aware of the arrest of a U.S. citizen in Stockholm. We take seriously our responsibility to assist U.S. citizens abroad and are actively monitoring the situation. Due to privacy considerations, we have no further comment at this time.”
A$AP Rocky appeared in Stockholm District Court with his lawyer on July 5, where the judge ruled on the two-week investigation — though the rapper could be detained even longer if prosecutors need more time.
“It depends on whether the investigation is completed or not,” the spokesperson told PEOPLE. “If the investigation is finished and the prosecutor chooses to indict, then they will do that. But if the investigation is not completed by then — which is fairly likely given that two weeks is a relatively short time — the prosecutor will request that he is detained for a further two weeks. It is then for the court to decide.”
The rapper’s lawyer Henrik Olsson Lilja told PEOPLE, “The prosecutor told us today [July 5] that he will not probably be finished within two weeks, so my assumption is that he will have completed the investigation within around three-four weeks.”
“We appealed the District Court’s decision today, but the Court of Appeal rejected that,” he added. “Now we will probably appeal to the Supreme Court, but they will not be able to try this until next week, probably.”
A$AP Rocky, who performed at the Smash hip-hop festival in Stockholm, detailed the events of the arrests to his 10.2 million Instagram followers. Since his arrest, he has missed scheduled performances at the Open’er Festival in Poland as well as Longitude in Ireland and London’s Wireless festival.
—Reporting by ADAM CARLSON
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