President Donald Trump is expected to sign pardons for imprisoned reality stars Todd and Julie Chrisley as soon as today.
The multimillionaire Trump-supporting couple, whose show Chrisley Knows Best ran from 2014 to 2023 on basic cable, are serving prison sentences after being convicted of tax evasion and bank fraud in 2022.
Their daughter Savannah Chrisley, who has pushed for the pardon, revealed in an interview that Trump said her parents “didn’t look like terrorists” and he wanted to give them “the full pardon.”
“Well, he did say, he was like, you know, ‘You guys don't look like terrorists to me,’ she told NewsNation's On Balance with Leland Vittert Monday. “His exact words, which was pretty funny.”
Trump called Savannah and her brother Grayson Chrisley Monday to share the news.
“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,” the president said in the phone call which was shared by White House communications adviser Margo Martin.
The president will sign the pardons for the couple today, a White House official confirmed to The Independent.
Here is what we know about the Chrisleys’ pardon and what will happen next
Pardon was pursued by the Chrisleys’ daughter
Savannah Chrisley, 27, revealed in February that she was working to secure the pardon for her parents by “going through the proper channels.”
“I'm going to bring as much awareness to it as possible because these things should not happen,” she said.
Trump has met Savannah before when she spoke at the Republican National Convention last July. During her speech, she said that the family was “persecuted by rogue prosecutors” in part due to “our public profile and conservative beliefs.”
The Chrisleys’ plight was presented to Trump by criminal justice reform advocate Alice Marie Johnson, who was granted clemency by the president during his first term, a White House official confirmed. Kim Kardashian was the one who campaigned for Johnson’s release after she was hit with a life prison sentence for a non-violent, first-time drug offence.
“I don't know them, but give them my regards,” Trump also said in the phone call. “They were given a pretty harsh treatment based on what I'm hearing.
“I hear they're terrific people. This should not have happened.”
The couple’s children both thanked Trump for giving their parents “a second chance.” Grayson, 19, became visibly emotional while speaking to the president on the phone. “Mr President, I just want to say thank you for bringing my parents back,” he said.
Savannah praised the Trump administration in a gushing post on X. “This moment is bigger than just my family…it’s about an administration that believes in second chances, that restores families, and that brings hope back to the American people,” she wrote shortly after news of the pardon broke Monday.
“To President Trumpand his team — thank you for believing in justice over vengeance.”
Fraud and tax evasion conviction
Todd and Julie Chrisley were found guilty of conspiring to defraud community banks out of more than $30 million in fraudulent loans in 2022. Prosecutors said the couple walked away from their responsibility for repayment when Todd declared bankruptcy.
They were also both found guilty of tax evasion and conspiring to defraud the IRS, while Julie Chrisley was convicted of wire fraud and obstruction of justice.
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. The couple have been appealing their case since being sentenced in November 2022.
“We have nothing to hide and have done nothing to be ashamed of,” Todd Chrisley said in a statement after the couple was indicted in August 2019. “Not only do we know we've done nothing wrong, but we've got a ton of hard evidence and bunch of corroborating witnesses that proves it.”
Todd Chrisley has been serving his sentence at a minimum security federal prison camp and previously had a release date of June 2032, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
Julie Chrisley is at a facility in Lexington, Kentucky, and was not set to be released until April 2028.
Critics accuse the Trump administration of ‘blatant corruption’
The Chrisleys are longtime Trump supporters, which critics have seized upon to accuse the administration of “blatant corruption.”
“For context: The Chrisleys are well-known Trump supporters,” Ally Sammarco, a Democratic strategist, told her followers on X.
“Trump just pardoned TV personalities Todd and Julie Chrisley, who conspired to defraud Atlanta-area banks out of $30 million in fraudulent loans. In Trump’s America, crimes are celebrated and prison sentences are cut short,” said Harry Sisson, a Democratic influencer, on X, calling it “actual insanity.”
In another post, Sisson noted that the pardons for the Chrisleys come as Trump also pardoned “a corrupt Virginia sheriff who took over $75,000 in bribes” (Trump called him a “wonderful person”), and a “man convicted of serious tax crimes, whose mom donated $1 million to Trump and worked on his campaigns.”
Sisson called it “blatant corruption.”
“Their daughter, Savannah, campaigned for Trump. During a speech at the RNC in 2024, she said her parents were ‘persecuted’ for their political beliefs,” Anna Bower, a reporter for Lawfare, said.
In February, Todd Chrisley’s attorney claimed that guards at FPC Pensacola removed a MAGA (Make America Great Again) sticker from his cell. At the time, Chrisley’s lawyer Jay Surgent said he was hopeful Trump would soon grant him a pardon.
“It will be up to President Trump to review their cases,” Surgent told TMZ at the time. “Todd has faith he will be given due consideration because he feels that he never received constitutional protections in a fair criminal justice system.”
Additional reporting by Andrew Feinberg, Kevin E G Perry and Gustaf Kilander
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