President Donald Trump called two of the children of imprisoned reality television couple Todd and Julie Chrisley from the Oval Office on Tuesday, informing them of his plans to pardon their parents as soon as Wednesday.
The pair, known for their roles on the TV show “Chrisley Knows Best,” sought pardons from Trump in February after they were convicted of bilking banks out of tens of millions of dollars in 2022, NBC News reported.
A judge had handed down sentences of 12 years for Todd Chrisley and seven years for his wife, Julie Chrisley, in November 2022 after an Atlanta jury found them guilty of fraud, tax evasion and conspiracy to defraud the United States following a weekslong federal trial.
A White House official told NBC News that Trump will sign the pardons once they are ready — most likely within 24 hours.
Trump told two of their children, Savannah and Grayson Chrisley, in a phone call that he planned to pardon the couple.
"It’s a terrible thing, but it’s a great thing because your parents are going to be free and clean," Trump said on the call. "We’ll try getting it done tomorrow, so give them — I don’t know them — but give them my regards and wish them well. Wish them a good life."
Grayson Chrisley responded, "Mr. President, I just want to say thank you for bringing my parents back."
White House spokesperson Harrison Fields said in a statement that Trump is "always pleased to give well-deserving Americans a second chance, especially those who have been unfairly targeted and overly prosecuted by an unjust justice system."
"President Trump called Savannah and her brother from the Oval Office to personally inform them that he would be pardoning their parents, Todd and Julie Chrisley, whose sentences were far too harsh," Fields said.
Prosecutors said Todd and Julie Chrisley conspired to defraud Atlanta-area banks of more than $36 million in personal loans by submitting false bank statements and other records, which they spent on luxury cars and travel.
They later defrauded the IRS, evading collection of $500,000 in taxes owed by Todd Chrisley, prosecutors alleged, while raking in millions of dollars from their TV show. The Chrisleys were also alleged to have failed to file tax returns or pay any taxes for tax years 2013 through 2016.
Trump said Monday he had granted Scott Jenkins, a former Virginia sheriff, a pardon. Jenkins was sentenced in March to 10 years in prison for accepting over $75,000 in bribes in return for appointing a series of Virginia businessmen as auxiliary deputy sheriffs in his department.
Trump said Jenkins, a former sheriff of Culpeper County, and his family had "been dragged through HELL by a Corrupt and Weaponized" Justice Department during the Biden administration, an accusation that has underpinned many of his calls for clemency since he returned to the White House.
Trump has extended pardons and commutations to thousands of people since he began his second term, including roughly 1,500 criminal defendants who were involved in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.
