One can always rely on Donald Trump to help a fellow reality star in need. This time, they’re Julie and Todd Chrisley, who headlined the hit series Chrisley Knows Best—and were convicted on bank fraud and tax evasion charges in 2022.
The Chrisleys were found guilty of both evading taxes and conspiracy to defraud community banks out of more than $30 million to fund their lavish lifestyle, as seen on TV. Julie was also found guilty of wire fraud and obstruction of justice. And their accountant, Peter Tarantino, was found guilty of multiple tax crimes as well, including conspiring to defraud the IRS and filing two false corporate tax returns on the behalf of the Chrisleys’ company.
Tarantino was sentenced to three years in federal prison, while his former clients Julie and Todd were sentenced to seven and 12 years, respectively. “As today’s outcome shows, when you lie, cheat and steal, justice is blind as to your fame, your fortune, and your position,” Keri Farley, special agent in charge of FBI Atlanta, said in a statement at the time. “In the end, when driven by greed, the verdict of guilty on all counts for these three defendants proves once again that financial crimes do not pay.”
But just three years later, the Chrisleys have seized a get-out-of-jail free card from President Trump, with their pardons likely to be signed Wednesday, a White House official familiar with the plans told The Washington Post.
A video posted on X by White House communications adviser Margo Martin shows Trump on a call in the Oval Office with the Chrisleys’ 27-year-old daughter, Savannah. “Your parents are going to be free and clean, and I hope we’re going to do it by tomorrow,” Trump said on the call, joined by his administration’s pardon czar, Alice Johnson. Trump added of the Chrisleys: “They were given pretty harsh treatment based on what I’m hearing. I don’t know them, but give them my regards and wish them a good life.”
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In a subsequent appearance on NewsNation’s On Balance, Savannah Chrisley said Trump spoke with her on the phone, saying, “you guys don’t look like terrorists.” Ahead, a breakdown of the Chrisleys’ crimes, conviction, and a reality TV comeback already percolating over on Lifetime.
Who are the Chrisleys?
The Chrisleys shot to fame about a decade ago with the 2014 debut of their USA Network reality show, Chrisley Knows Best. That sitcom-style series follows Todd and Julie, multi-millionaire Christian real estate moguls raising five kids in a sprawling Atlanta mansion. On the show, which spawned spin-offs Growing Up Chrisley and According to Chrisley, the clan regularly flaunts both their luxurious lifestyle and madcap family dynamics involving Todd’s mother, affectionately known as Nanny Faye.
But according to prosecutors in the Chrisley case, their public reputation was “based on the lie that their wealth came from dedication and hard work.” In fact, the prosecution said, the Chrisleys were “career swindlers who have made a living by jumping from one fraud scheme to another, lying to banks, stiffing vendors and evading taxes at every corner.” (The Chrisleys have denied any wrongdoing.)
The 10-season run of Chrisley Knows Best ended when the couple began their respective prison sentences in 2023. But their reality-TV empire has not crumbled entirely. According to Variety, cable channel Lifetime has greenlit an untitled docuseries about the family following Todd and Julie’s convictions, with elder children Savannah and Chase serving as executive producers.
An official synopsis reads: “The family faces the challenge of carrying on the Chrisley name and legacy on their own with only phone calls and brief visits with their incarcerated parents. While Savannah maintains custody of her younger siblings, Chloe and Grayson, she has been fighting tirelessly for a Presidential pardon to free her parents. Meanwhile, Chase is addressing some life struggles while building his new business and navigating his relationship with girlfriend Jodi.”
Why did they get sent to prison?
In 2014, the same year that Chrisley Knows Best premiered, Todd filed for bankruptcy, while Julie falsified financial documents and lied to real estate agents in order to secure their high-end rental home in Los Angeles, according to the Northern District of Georgia’s Department of Justice. When the pair failed to make rent payments, the property owner filed an eviction lawsuit against the Chrisleys.
Prior to the start of their reality show, the Chrisleys “submitted false bank statements, audit reports, and personal financial statements to banks to obtain the millions of dollars in fraudulent loans,” said U.S. attorney Ryan K. Buchanan. The couple then used the funds to obtain expensive cars, designer clothing, travel, and real estate. According to Buchanan, old loans were reimbursed through the use of new, fraudulent ones.
Then, after earning millions from their reality show, the Chrisleys failed to pay more than half a million dollars in taxes owed by Todd. According to prosecutors, they also failed to pay taxes or file returns from 2013 to 2016.
Last year, an appeals court upheld the convictions of Todd and the Chrisley accountant, Tarantino—but vacated Julie’s sentence, ruling that the sentencing judge had held her liable for the entirety of the bank-fraud scheme without specific evidence pointing to her involvement before 2007.
So why is Trump pardoning them?
Short answer: eldest Chrisley child Savannah is a vocal Trump supporter who has spent time in the MAGAsphere advocating for her parents’ release.
Last summer, Savannah spoke at the Republican National Convention, where she claimed the Chrisleys had been “persecuted by rogue prosecutors” for their conservative beliefs. “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,’” she alleged, adding, “He meant it as an insult. But, let me tell you: boy, do I wear it as a badge of honor.”
Savannah also paid a visit to the White House in March and, earlier this month, was interviewed by the president’s daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, on Fox News. And she knows her audience: Trump loves a strategic pardon. In one of his first acts after being sworn into office for a second term, Trump pardoned all the Jan. 6 rioters charged in connection with an attack on the U.S. Capitol. On Monday, he offered similar reprieve to Scott Jenkins, a former Virginia sheriff who was sentenced to 10 years in prison after being convicted on fraud and bribery charges.
“The president called me personally as I was walking into Sam’s Club and notified me that he was signing paper pardon paperwork for both of my parents,” Savannah said in an Instagram video on Tuesday, May 27. Wearing a gold “Make America Great Again” hat, she continued, “I will forever be grateful for President Trump, his administration and everyone along the way, all of my lawyers, the people who put in countless hours and effort and love for my family to make sure that my parents got home.” Well-wishers in the comments section include Brittany Aldean, conservative wife of country musician Jason Aldean, and former Real Housewives of Atlanta star Kim Zolciak Biermann.
The Chrisleys’ attorney, Alex Little, said in a statement Tuesday that the pardon “corrects a deep injustice and restores two devoted parents to their family and community,” adding that “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.”
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