Facing what could become a bruising primary battle, appointed U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) is embracing one of President Obama's best known communist appointees, former green jobs czar Van Jones.

The Hill reports Gillibrand will share the stage with Jones at a panel discussion sponsored by the Advocacy Project at the Harvard Club in New York. Jones, a self-described "communist," was pushed out of the Obama administration five months ago following the embarrassing revelation that he was a 9/11 "truther" who had signed a petition accusing the U.S. government of orchestrating the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

For a time, Jones had been politically radioactive to Democrats but Gillibrand's decision to work alongside him appears to bring Jones's political exile to an end.



Gillibrand, who had a reputation as a moderate Democrat before entering the U.S. Senate, has been steadily tacking to the left since being appointed to replace Secretary of State Hillary Clinton so it's no surprise that she is cozying up to her party's radical left-wing.

Gillibrand was one of only seven senators who voted against de-funding the radical leftist group ACORN known for its decades of involvement in election fraud. At the time she defended her vote, telling the New York Post through a spokesperson, "The truth remains that thousands of New York families who are facing foreclosure depend on charitable organizations like ACORN for assistance."

The panel-sponsoring Advocacy Project was founded by Democratic operative Erica Payne, who was a key figure in the founding of the George Soros-led Democracy Alliance, an ultra-secretive billionaires' club that funds political projects aimed at turning America into socialist Europe.

"Van Jones is a globally recognized, award-winning pioneer in the green jobs movement. He also happens to be a super fun speaker so this will be a very lively conversation!" Payne wrote in an invitation to the March 8 event. Payne also describes Gillibrand and Jones as "two awesome leaders" and refers to Jones as a "Green Jobs legend."

The Agenda Project was "formed to help realize the promise of this pivotal moment in American history," according to Payne. It will conduct "several by-invitation-only gatherings around policy and political strategy" over the next year, she is quoted as saying.