Trump pardons reality TV stars Julie and Todd Chrisley

Donald Trump has pardoned a reality TV couple who were sentenced to prison after defrauding banks of at least $30m, the White House announced on Tuesday, the latest in a string of gestures that appear to benefit supporters of the US president.

Julie and Todd Chrisley, stars of the USA Network show Chrisley Knows Best and Growing Up Chrisley that showed the family’s lavish lifestyle, were convicted in 2022 of taking out more than $30m in fraudulent loans from community banks. After their conviction, a judge sentenced Todd Chrisley to 12 years in prison, while his wife received seven years behind bars.

The White House posted a video on Tuesday of Trump making a phone call to Savannah Chrisley, the couple’s daughter, telling her that he is pardoning her parents.

“I don’t know them, but give them my regards,” Trump said. “They were giving pretty harsh treatment, based on what I’m hearing.”

Savannah Chrisley was a vocal advocate for Trump during his campaign last year, making parallels between the justice system’s treatment of Trump with her parents’ conviction.

At the Republican national convention last summer, Chrisley said her parents’ conviction was politically motivated, claiming that the judge referred to her family as the “Trumps of the south”.

“Justice is supposed to be blind, but today we have a two-faced justice system,” she said in her speech. “Just look at what they’re doing to President Trump.”

On the family’s TV show, the Chrisleys were featured as a wealthy family living in a mansion in the Atlanta suburbs. Todd Chrisley was shown as a successful real estate developer and entrepreneur, and the show glamorized his family’s life of luxury.

But in 2019, during Trump’s first term, Todd and Julie Chrisley were indicted on charges of tax evasion and bank fraud. A federal jury in Atlanta ultimately found the couple guilty in 2022.

Trump has issued a series of clemencies to his supporters over the last few days in what appears to be a broader rebuke against a justice system that had convicted him of fraud across multiple cases before he was re-elected.

Earlier this week, the president also pardoned a former Virginia sheriff who directly appealed to Trump for his clemency after he was sentenced to 10 years in prison for fraud and bribery.

“Sheriff Scott Jenkins, his wife Patricia and their family have been dragged through HELL by a Corrupt and Weaponized Biden DOJ,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Monday.

Trump also pardoned Paul Walczak, a nursing home executive who pleaded guilty to tax crimes and was set to pay $4.4m in restitution and serve 18 months in prison.

Though Walczak’s pardon application was ignored by the White House for weeks after it was submitted, Walczak’s mother attended a dinner at Mar-a-Lago a few weeks ago that cost $1m a head, according to New York Times.