Van Jones will appear alongside Sen. Gillibrand

Van Jones, the controversial former Obama administration official, will speak on the same panel as Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) at a New York City forum next month, according to media reports this week.

Jones, who served as green jobs czar, resigned his advisory position last year after it was revealed he signed a petition that suggested the Bush administration deliberately allowed the 9/11 terrorist attacks to happen as a pretext for war.

Conservative lawmakers and activists had put pressure on Jones for weeks leading up to the revelation, arguing that his past remarks and political leanings made him unfit for office.

Jones and Gillibrand will speak on a panel sponsored by the Advocacy Project at the Harvard Club in New York. Jones is scheduled to speak about the Obama administration's jobs agenda.

Gillibrand, who has suffered from low approval ratings, is running for reelection this year and could face a primary challenge from New York transplant and former Rep. Harold Ford (D-Tenn.) Republicans have yet to find a strong challenger to face the junior senator.

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