President Donald Trump is facing fierce criticism after he decided to pardon reality TV stars Todd and Julie Chrisley.
The Chrisleys, best known for their Chrisley Knows Best TV show, were serving prison sentences for fraud and tax evasion.
They were convicted in 2022 and sentenced to 12 years (Todd) and seven years (Julie). The White House confirmed the couple’s full pardons on Tuesday.
Speaking to their children during a phone call from the Oval Office Tuesday, Trump said: “Your parents are going to be free and clean and I hope we’re going to do it by tomorrow.”
“They were given pretty harsh treatment based on what I’m hearing,” he added.
The move prompted widespread criticism.
“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.”
“Oh, Trump’s going to pardon the Chrisleys? I’m stunned,” sarcastically noted Phillip Bump, a columnist for The Washington Post, on BlueSky.
Anna Bower, a reporter for Lawfare, wrote on BlueSky that the Chrisleys were “indicted by a federal grand jury in 2019, during the first Trump administration.”
“The Trump-nominated U.S. attorney was Byung Jin “BJay” Pak. He was forced to resign in early 2021 after Trump became convinced he wasn’t doing enough to investigate purported election fraud in GA,” she added.
“Their [the Chrisleys’] daughter, Savannah, campaigned for Trump. During a speech at the RNC in 2024, she said her parents were ‘persecuted’ for their political beliefs,” Bower noted.
“I shudder to think about what Savannah Chrisley had to do to secure those pardons for her parents,” lawyer Amee Vanderpool said on X.
“For context: The Chrisleys are well-known Trump supporters,” Ally Sammarco, a Democratic strategist, told her followers on X.
Singer-songwriter Ricky Davila added: “The orange felon pardoned corrupt Virginia Sheriff Scott Jenkins who was convicted of bribery and fraud, now he pardoned Todd and Julie Chrisley who defrauded banks. Because nothing says law and order like a felon gifting pardons to other felons for their loyalty.”
