On Tuesday evening, President Trump revealed he will issues a full presidential pardon to reality TV stars Todd and Julie Chrisley after they were found guilty of fraud and tax evasion in 2022.
Todd and Julie, who rose to fame on the reality series “Chrisley Knows Best,” were convicted of conspiring to defraud community banks out of more than $30 million in fraudulent loans as well as tax evasion and sentenced to 12 and seven years, respectively. Their sentences were later reduced.
“It’s a terrible thing, but it’s a great thing, because your parents are going to be free and clean, and I hope we can do it by tomorrow. Is that OK? We’ll try getting it done tomorrow,” Trump told their daughter Savannah Chrisley and son Chase, in a phone call from the Oval Office on Tuesday that was posted onto an X account of a White House aide. The post was captioned in part, “Trump Knows Best!”
“Thank you so much, Mr. President,” Savannah could be heard saying on the call. Chase, through tears, added, “I just want to say thank you for bringing my parents back.”
Trump told Savannah and Chase to give their parents his “regards and wish them a good life.”
“They were given pretty harsh treatment based on what I’m hearing, pretty harsh treatment,” Trump said. “Congratulate your parents, and I hear they’re terrific people. This should not have happened.”
He continued, “They have good children — you’re no longer children, but I’ll say it anyway. They have good children, don’t they, huh?”
Standing behind Trump was Alice Marie Johnson, whose sentence on drug charges he commuted during his first term and whom he appointed as his pardon czar in February.
“Alice had a lot to do with this,” Trump told Savannah and Chase.
The Chrisleys’ attorney, Alex Little, told Fox News Digital 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.”
After the phone call with Trump, Savannah posted a video on her Instagram saying she got the call from the president that he was signing pardon papers for her parents while she was walking into a Sam’s Club.
“So, both of my parents are coming home tonight or tomorrow and I still don’t believe it’s real!” she exclaimed.
She said she will be “forever grateful” to Trump and his administration as well as her lawyers and everyone else who “put in countless hours” to “make sure that my parents got home.”
“My parents get to start their lives over!” she added, saying she “vowed to stand next to you and your administration, exposing the corruption and continue fighting for the men and women who are in prison … Thank you, thank you, thank you and I will repay your kindness to every person that I meet, so thank God for a president like Donald J. Trump. Thank you, God, for a president who wants to restore families and loves people … and took the time to call me from the Oval Office to let me know my parents are getting their lives back.”
Since entering the White House, Trump has issued a number of high profile pardons including for January 6 defendants. President Donald Trump on Monday announced that he will pardon a former Virginia sheriff Scott Jenkins.
