Trump set to pardon reality TV stars Todd and Julie Chrisley of fraud
and tax evasion convictions
[May 28, 2025]
By WILL WEISSERT
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump announced Tuesday that he’s
planning to pardon TV stars Todd and Julie Chrisley, famous for
“Chrisley Knows Best,” a reality show that followed their tight-knit
family and extravagant lifestyle that prosecutors said was boosted by
bank fraud and hiding earnings from tax authorities.
The Chrisleys were convicted in 2022 of conspiring to defraud banks in
the Atlanta area out of more than $30 million in loans by submitting
false documents. They were also found guilty of tax evasion, obscuring
their earnings while showcasing a luxurious way of living that
authorities said included high-priced cars, designer clothes, real
estate and travel.
Prosecutors said the couple walked away from their responsibility for
repayment when Todd Chrisley declared bankruptcy and left $20-plus
million in unpaid loans. Julie Chrisley was sentenced to seven years in
federal prison, and Todd Chrisley got 12 years behind bars. The couple
was also ordered to pay $17.8 million in restitution.
“Your parents are going to be free and clean and I hope that we can do
it by tomorrow,” Trump said in a call with their daughter, Savannah
Chrisley, according to a video posted online by a White House aide. In a
social media post, the aide declared, “Trump Knows Best!”
“They’ve been given a pretty harsh treatment based on what I’m hearing,”
the president added a few moments later of the couple.
A White House official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss
decisions that hadn't yet been made public, said the pardons would be
forthcoming.
The move continues a pattern of Trump pardoning high-profile friends,
supporters, donors and former staffers. On Monday, Trump pardoned Scott
Jenkins, a former Virginia sheriff who was sentenced to 10 years in
prison after being convicted on fraud and bribery charges. The president
posted online that Jenkins and his family “have been dragged through
HELL by a Corrupt and Weaponized Biden DOJ.”
The president has also moved to pardon Paul Walczak, a Florida health
care executive imprisoned on tax charges, whose mother helped expose the
contents of a diary kept by Ashley Biden, daughter of former President
Joe Biden. And, in April, he pardoned Nevada Republican Michele Fiore,
who was awaiting sentencing on federal charges that she used money meant
for a statue honoring a slain police officer for personal costs,
including plastic surgery.
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Julie Chrisley, right, and her husband Todd Chrisley pose for photos
at the 52nd annual Academy of Country Music Awards April 2, 2017, in
Las Vegas. (Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File)
 The Chrisleys’ attorney, Alex
Little, said the pardon “corrects a deep injustice and restores two
devoted parents to their family and community.”
“President Trump recognized what we’ve argued from the beginning:
Todd and Julie were targeted because of their conservative values
and high profile. Their prosecution was tainted by multiple
constitutional violations and political bias,” Little said in a
statement.
Little's statement added, “Todd and Julie’s case is exactly why the
pardon power exists. Thanks to President Trump, the Chrisley family
can now begin healing and rebuilding their lives.”
Before the Chrisleys became reality television stars, they, and a
former business partner, submitted false documents to banks in the
Atlanta area to obtain fraudulent loans, prosecutors said during
their trial. They accused the couple of spending lavishly, then
using new fraudulent loans to pay off old ones.
A three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last
summer upheld the Chrisleys’ convictions but found a legal error in
how the trial judge had calculated Julie Chrisley’s sentence by
holding her accountable for the entire bank fraud scheme. The
appellate panel sent her case back to the lower court for
resentencing.
Savannah Chrisley spoke at the 2024 Republican National Convention,
where she talked about her parents’ imprisonment. She said then that
they were “persecuted by rogue prosecutors” — echoing Trump’s
rhetoric about the criminal justice system as he faced
investigations and criminal cases of his own.
She said Trump had been targeted for his politics, and said her
parents likewise were targeted because of their conservative beliefs
and high profile.
“I’ll never forget what the prosecutors said in the most heavily
Democratic county in the state, before an Obama-appointed judge. He
called us the ‘Trumps of the South,’” Savannah Chrisley said in her
remarks at the convention, adding, “He meant it as an insult but,
let me tell you, boy, do I wear it as a badge of honor.”
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Associated Press writer Michelle L. Price contributed.
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