WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump introduced Tuesday that he’s planning to pardon TV stars Todd and Julie Chrisley, well-known for “Chrisley Knows Best,” a actuality present that adopted their tight-knit household and indulgent life-style that prosecutors mentioned was boosted by financial institution fraud and hiding earnings from tax authorities.
The Chrisleys have been convicted in 2022 of conspiring to defraud banks within the Atlanta space out of greater than $30 million in loans by submitting false paperwork. They have been additionally discovered responsible of tax evasion, obscuring their earnings whereas showcasing an opulent way of life that authorities mentioned included high-priced automobiles, designer garments, actual property and journey.
Prosecutors mentioned the couple walked away from their accountability for reimbursement when Todd Chrisley declared chapter and left $20-plus million in unpaid loans. Julie Chrisley was sentenced to seven years in federal jail, and Todd Chrisley obtained 12 years behind bars. The couple was additionally 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 mentioned in a name with their daughter, Savannah Chrisley, in line with a video posted on-line by a White Home aide. In a social media submit, the aide declared, “Trump Knows Best!”
“They’ve been given a pretty harsh treatment based on what I’m hearing,” the president added a couple of moments later of the couple.
A White Home official, who spoke on situation of anonymity to debate choices that hadn’t but been made public, mentioned the pardons could be forthcoming.
The transfer continues a sample of Trump pardoning high-profile pals, supporters, donors and former staffers. On Monday, Trump pardoned Scott Jenkins, a former Virginia sheriff who was sentenced to 10 years in jail after being convicted on fraud and bribery prices. The president posted on-line that Jenkins and his household “have been dragged through HELL by a Corrupt and Weaponized Biden DOJ.”
The president has additionally moved to pardon Paul Walczak, a Florida well being care govt imprisoned on tax prices, whose mom helped expose the contents of a diary stored by Ashley Biden, daughter of former President Joe Biden. And, in April, he pardoned Nevada Republican Michele Fiore, who was awaiting sentencing on federal prices that she used cash meant for a statue honoring a slain police officer for private prices, together with cosmetic surgery.
The Chrisleys’ legal professional, Alex Little, mentioned 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 mentioned in an announcement.
Little’s assertion 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.”
Earlier than the Chrisleys turned actuality tv stars, they, and a former enterprise accomplice, submitted false paperwork to banks within the Atlanta space to acquire fraudulent loans, prosecutors mentioned throughout their trial. They accused the couple of spending lavishly, then utilizing new fraudulent loans to repay outdated ones.
A 3-judge panel of the eleventh U.S. Circuit Courtroom of Appeals final summer time upheld the Chrisleys’ convictions however discovered a authorized error in how the trial choose had calculated Julie Chrisley’s sentence by holding her accountable for the whole financial institution fraud scheme. The appellate panel despatched her case again to the decrease court docket for resentencing.
Savannah Chrisley spoke on the 2024 Republican Nationwide Conference, the place she talked about her dad and mom’ imprisonment. She mentioned then that they have been “persecuted by rogue prosecutors” — echoing Trump’s rhetoric in regards to the prison justice system as he confronted investigations and prison instances of his personal.
She mentioned Trump had been focused for his politics, and mentioned her dad and mom likewise have been focused due to their conservative beliefs and excessive 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 mentioned in her remarks on the conference, including, “He meant it as an insult but, let me tell you, boy, do I wear it as a badge of honor.”
___
Related Press author Michelle L. Worth contributed.
