Latest news with #Chrisley
Yahoo
10 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Todd Chrisley reveals what his fellow prisoners thought of his release — after taking a swipe at CNN
Reality star and convicted fraudster Todd Chrisley opened up about his emotional release from prison and the reaction of his fellow inmates — just moments after taking a swipe at CNN during a press conference Friday. 'When I left that day, there was only 317 men at our camp, but they were lined up shouting when I was walking out and they were saying 'Dont forget us, don't forget us' and my commitment is to them that I will never forget them,' Chrisley, 56, told reporters in Nashville alongside his daughter Savannah. The reality star, who was released from federal prison on Wednesday night alongside his wife, Julie Chrisley, after President Trump announced plans to pardon the couple, emphasized systemic issues he witnessed firsthand at the FPC Pensacola lockup in Florida. 'Anyone who says it's a fair shake, it's not. I dealt with young African American males in the prison that I was in who were not treated the same. They were denied programming. They were denied access to certain things. I was not denied that, but we know why I wasn't denied,' Todd Chrisley said. Chrisley, who was convicted with his wife of faking documents to obtain over $30 million in loans, and then dumping them by declaring bankruptcy, took a swipe at the left-wing media's portrayal of the case. 'You must be from CNN,' he mockingly responded to an unidentified reporter who asked if he felt any remorse over his conviction. 'You're placed in a position as a defendant to either bow down and kiss the ass of the DOJ and accept responsibility for things that you did not do in order to avoid a stronger sentence,' he said. Todd and Julie Chrisley's fall from grace: The inside story Todd Chrisley smiles in first public outing since Trump pardon Todd Chrisley reveals extreme lengths he takes to 'outrun paparazzi' as he breaks cover with daughter Savannah after prison release Todd Chrisley reveals what his fellow prisoners thought of his release — after taking a swipe at CNN Inside 'shocked' Todd and Julie Chrisley's first night home after Trump pardons The 'Chrisley Knows Best' star described his time in prison as eye-opening and vowed to continue advocacy efforts for inmates with his family. 'I will continue to fight for all the guys that I dealt with and that I was blessed to be with at FPC Pensacola. I will continue to expose the injustices that go on there and throughout the department and throughout the Bureau of Prisons,' he said. Chrisley also reflected on the moment he first learned of his pardon, describing it as surreal. 'I had a staff member that came up to me and said, 'You've just been pardoned,' and I just looked at him, and he said, 'No really, you've been pardoned. It's in the news.' Savannah also recounted the moment she learned her parents would be pardoned on the way to the grocery store. 'When I got the call, like I said, I was walking into the grocery store, and I stopped in the parking lot. I was like, what do I do?.. and so I sat in my car and had that phone conversation that's online with President Trump… Grayson [her brother] was with me and we're like, oh my god, it's happening, it's happening,' she said. Todd Chrisley was freed after serving just over two years of his 12-year sentence. His 52-year-old wife was let out of FMC Lexington in Kentucky, where she had been serving out a seven-year prison term. President Trump announced plans to pardon the reality TV couple on Tuesday and followed through Wednesday afternoon, telling their adult kids from the Oval Office that the sentences were 'pretty harsh treatment.''This should not have happened,' the president told 27-year-old Savannah by phone. 'They were given a pretty harsh treatment based on what I'm hearing. 'Your parents are going to be free and clean,' he added. 'I don't know them, but give them my regards and wish them a good life.' The glamorous couple's daughter has been championing their case in conservative circles since their conviction, going so far as to speak at the Republican National Convention in 2024 to proclaim that they'd been 'persecuted by rogue prosecutors' for their conservative values. Todd and Julie Chrisley – who celebrated their 29th wedding anniversary days ago on May 25 – haven't seen or spoken to each other since they reported for prison in 2023, Savannah said. But once the family is settled back home, they're ready to jump back into television and have a Lifetime show waiting for them 'that will document all of these things,' Savannah revealed to reporters on Wednesday.
Yahoo
20 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Sound Off: June 1, 2025
Sun Herald readers weigh in on local and national topics. Perhaps someone could develop a device that when a traffic light changed from red to green a signal was sent to the cars in front of the light. That signal would cause a loud ding to sound on the car's speakers alerting those looking at their phones that it was time to move. I'm not sure I've ever laughed harder than I did when I read about how people are making money on Wall Street basing their buys on the idea that Trump Always Chickens Out (TACO). With the Chrisley pardons, President Trump proved that he has zero integrity. The people who were defrauded of millions will never get their money back. If it's possible to have negative integrity, Trump is the charter member of the group. If there's one thing we should have learned by now, it's that Democrats will do anything to win an election. Considering the person in charge of the scheme admitted to it in print and on camera, I'm having trouble figuring out how anyone could say there isn't election fraud in Gulfport. Candidates have always held events where their 'patrons' donate and pledge their support. Is that voter fraud? The GOP in Gulfport is making accusations of voter fraud already. President Trump used that to push the lie that he won the 2020 election. Now he is in office selling everything that is not nailed down. Republicans must be really scared of the Black woman winning the mayors race in Gulfport. Wasn't Elon Musk trying to buy votes in Wisconsin? When Democrats use the Republican play book, they really get upset.. I'm old enough to remember when Elon Musk traveled the country handing out checks to people. I'm trying to figure out why that would be OK, but free meals aren't. I trust that the good people of Gulfport are smart enough to not vote for Hugh Keating, who, obviously, doesn't have enough merits to run on his own. Stephen A Smith said it best: 'How can anyone trust the lying media, Trump was right, they can't be trusted about anything!'Our country was manipulated by them. Why can't Canal Road in Gulfport be paved to 28th Street? Send your Sound Offs to soundoff@
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Will Trump's former high-society friend Ghislaine Maxwell be the next infamous inmate to be pardoned?
She was famously photographed with Donald Trump at exclusive parties in Manhattan and Mar-a-Lago in her heyday, but can Ghislaine Maxwell 's one-time friend-turned-president now serve as her key to freedom? With TV reality couple Todd and Julie Chrisley's surprise early release this week, speculation is now swirling over whether Trump could pardon another infamous inmate from his high-society orbit next, can reveal. Maxwell is currently serving 20 years in federal prison for being notorious sex-trafficker Jeffrey Epstein 's enabler. can disclose one ultra-close source to the Maxwell family has not dismissed the hope of a Trump intervention out of hand – following his sensational pardoning of the Chrisleys, who were convicted of federal bank fraud and tax evasion charges in 2022. Maxwell's freedom-campaigning brothers Ian and Kevin Maxwell haven't formally petitioned the president for the ultimate clemency, but her family isn't ruling out the possibility, a close source told exclusively. 'It's not a bad idea to ask President Trump for a pardon. He knew her. He's probably got views about whether she's innocent or guilty,' a member of the Maxwell family's inner circle said. The 'who's next' speculation is running hot following the release of husband-and-wife TV duo Todd and Julie Chrisley, who were jailed for a $30million bank fraud and tax evasion in 2022. They were sprung from prison this week after MAGA-supporter daughter Savannah's passionate Fox TV interview with the president's daughter-in-law Lara Trump. President Trump told 27-year-old Savannah her parents 'don't look like terrorists' and privately conveyed he thought they'd been treated unfairly. In the case of Maxwell – inmate number 02879-509 at the federal women's prison in Tallahassee, Florida – the issue is wrought with more complexity. The British socialite former pal of Prince Andrew lost her appeal in 2024 against five counts related to sex trafficking for helping multi-millionaire financier Epstein abuse underage girls around the world. But in April this year her legal team filed a petition to the US Supreme Court, claiming she was covered by a 2007 non-prosecution agreement for any Epstein co-conspirator. Maxwell, 63, was sentenced in June 2022 after a lengthy New York trial. She was immediately sent to her Florida prison, where has exclusively photographed her pounding around the facility's running track. Brothers Ian, 69, and Kevin, 66, supported her in court and have campaigned tirelessly for her release since her 2021 conviction, proclaiming her innocence and alleging she did not receive a fair hearing. Yet overshadowing every twist and turn in Maxwell's bid for freedom is one word: Epstein. The notorious pedophile who killed himself in a New York jail in 2019 rather than face court for his sickening crimes. And adding to the complexity is the historic Trump connection – to both of them. The disgraced British socialite was previously revealed to have been moved to the facility's 'honor dorm', reserved for the best behaved inmates. Pictured above is one of the single level housing units in the female prison at FCI The Commander in Chief innocently rubbed shoulders with Epstein on the social circuit in Palm Beach and Manhattan in the 1990s and early 2000s. He was photographed with him and one video from 1992 shows them sharing a joke as women danced at the President's Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach. President Trump told New York magazine in 2002: 'I've known Jeff for 15 years. Terrific guy. He's a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side.' However after Epstein's dramatic arrest at Teterboro Airport, New Jersey following a trip to Paris, Trump said at the White House: 'People in Palm Beach knew him, he was a fixture in Palm Beach. 'I had a falling out with him a long time ago. I don't think I've spoken to him for 15 years. I wasn't a fan.' He emphasized he had no idea of Epstein's crimes before his arrest. President Trump and Maxwell were also photographed together as they socialized at events. First Lady Melania appears in at least three shots with them before her 2005 marriage. The most bizarre was taken at supermodel Heidi Klum's 'hookers and pimps' themed Halloween party in October 2000. It shows President Trump with his arms around a smiling Melania and Maxwell, who is dressed in a bleach blonde wig, leopard print jacket and gold leather pants. Prince Andrew was also at the event. Earlier that year, blue-suited Trump, Melania, casually-dressed Epstein and Maxwell – sporting a bare midriff and back in a blue top with gold tassels – posed for the camera at a Mar-a-Lago event. And in September 2000, Melania, Trump and Maxwell were snapped together at Anand Jon's fashion show in New York City. Two years later the current President and First Lady were photographed with Maxwell and British supermodel Naomi Campbell at the opening of the Dolce & Gabbana fashion house. Maxwell vanished after Epstein was arrested but was eventually arrested in a dramatic FBI raid on her secluded hideaway in a deeply rural part of New Hampshire. Following the swoop, President Trump said of her: 'I met her numerous times over the years, especially since I live in Palm Beach, and I guess they lived in Palm Beach. But I wish her well, whatever it is.' Maxwell was a fixture at Epstein's notorious private island of Little St. James in the US Virgin Islands, where he helicoptered in under-age girls to sexually abuse in a years-long reign of vile crimes. The Chrisley Knows Best stars were found guilty of defrauding banks out of $30million in 2022; seen in 2017 Wearing a hot pink MAGA hat, Savannah told TMZ that she is 'so grateful that I'm going to leave here with my dad' after an 'insane' two years of her trying to get him and Julie freed She was also a regular on his private Boeing 727 jet, dubbed the Lolita Express, which carried Andrew and former President Bill Clinton among a host of other names, according to flight logs. Crucially she acted as a 'madame' for Epstein, recruiting vulnerable young girls from the West Palm Beach area to give Epstein 'massages' at his $20million mansion in ritzy Palm Beach. There, he would abuse them. One was tragic Virginia Giuffre, who was working as a locker room attendant at Mar-a-Lago when she said Maxwell approached her in the mid 2000s. She said it led to years of harrowing abuse where she claimed she was 'passed around like a platter of fruit' to Epstein's powerful associates. Giuffre, known as Roberts at the time, alleged one was Prince Andrew – famously photographed with his arm around her in Maxwell's London home with the socialite in the background. The royal has consistently denied her accusations, although did pay her a reported payout of up to $16million in 2022. Despite attempts to build a new life in Australia, mother-of-three Giuffre's marriage collapsed and the 41-year-old killed herself at her home on May 1 this year. Maxwell's time behind bars has had moments of trauma, despite the prison being designated a low security facility for women. She's been branded the ultimate 'prison Karen' for filing more than 400 complaints, including lackluster vegan menu options and 'unfair treatment'. The disgraced socialite also demanded authorities give her immediate access to black hair dye. And she also even bagged plush hypoallergenic bedding after whining that standard prison pillows were triggering her allergies. Her gripes in the past have targeted everyone from inmates and guards to a 'rude' laundry woman. 'Max is the prison Karen,' an insider told in 2023. 'She can file a grievance over anything. 'She complains about the food, the bedding, when they cancel temple because of bad weather or are late setting up her legal calls. 'The latest battle is over hair dye. Maxwell has gray showing through and she's filed a grievance because they don't sell it anymore. Maxwell's beefs with authorities began when she first landed at the fearsome Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York, while awaiting trial. Her attorneys accused jail authorities of breaching her rights by shining a torch in her cell every 15 minutes, subjecting her to invasive searches and filming her at all hours. When she got to Tallahassee after her conviction 'she immediately wrote Brooklyn up for taking too long to ship her belongings,' said the prison source. 'Then when her shoes arrived, she refused to hand her temporary slip-ons back to the laundry lady. 'That caused a big argument and Max complained that she felt threatened and refused to go back to the laundry unaccompanied. 'That's her in a nutshell. Every aspect of prison life offers an opportunity for her to play the victim. She creates constant drama for staff and inmates.'
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Pardoned reality TV star Todd Chrisley says prison opened his eyes to injustices in the system
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Pardoned reality TV star Todd Chrisley said Friday that the experience of being in prison has changed him, vowing to not forget the men he met and befriended there and to work to make their lives better. 'You can't go through what we've been through and walk away from it,' he said at a news conference in a Nashville, Tennessee, hotel two days after his release. 'As bad as this experience has been, there's also been a lot of blessings to come from it. I have met some wonderful men. I have listened to some horrific stories about things that have gone on in our system.' Convicted on fraud and tax charges, the 'Chrisley Knows Best" star maintained his innocence, saying he and his wife Julie were victims of a corrupt prosecution. He said they will detail the proof of the wrongful conviction in an upcoming television show. 'We're blessed to have our family back, and we're blessed to be coming back to television because we have a much bigger story to tell now than we ever have," he said. Addressing whether his family's fame and connections helped him and his wife get a pardon from President Donald Trump, Chrisley said, 'It's not something you can look at and say that had nothing to do with it. I don't know if it did or it didn't.' His daughter Savannah Chrisley, also speaking at the news conference, was adamant that it was her hard work that won the day. She has been a staunch Trump supporter and endorsed his candidacy while also speaking about her parents in a speech at the Republican National Convention last summer. Todd Chrisley described the experience of watching his daughter's work from a distance as being 'consumed with pride while at the same time knowing that this is a longshot, because so many people are told, 'No.'' He said he recognized that the conditions at the minimum-security prison camp in Pensacola, Florida, where he was held were relatively good, and that even there the privileges were not evenly distributed. "It's important to understand that I was at a camp," he said. He was able to work out every day, walk a track, email his wife and talk to his children. "Being in the prison system, anyone that says that it's a fair shake — it's not. Because I dealt with young African American males in the prison that I was in that were not treated the same. They were denied programing. They were denied access to certain things. I was not denied that. But we know why I was not denied that,' he said. Chrisley said his time in prison deepened his 'walk with Christ' in addition to opening his eyes to many problems in the prison system. 'God has said when you know better you do better," he said. "And it's our job at this point to expose all of that and to try to make those men and women's lives better if we can.' 'Chrisley Knows Best' ran from 2014 to 2023, chronicling the extravagant exploits of the boisterous, tightly knit family of the couple and their five children, from high-end cars to luxury vacations and stunning mansions. It was recorded in the Atlanta area at first and then in Nashville. In 2019, the show spawned the spinoff 'Growing Up Chrisley,' which featured the couple's children Chase and Savannah living in Los Angeles. The Chrisleys were indicted in 2019 under a Trump-appointed U.S. attorney and found guilty by an Atlanta jury in 2022. A panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld their convictions last year. Until this Wednesday, they still had years left on their sentences: Julie Chrisley was expected to be released in 2028, and Todd Chrisley in 2032. In addition to their prison sentences, the couple had been ordered to pay $14 million in restitution that they will no longer owe, attorney Alex Little told reporters Friday. He said the government had seized some money from the Chrisleys but he believes it was less than $100,000 and that it was unclear whether any of that would be returned.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Todd Chrisley ‘blessed' and vows to fight for others in the justice system
Todd Chrisley is out of prison but he's not done advocating for judicial reform. The reality TV personality addressed a crowd of reporters on Friday, marking his first public event since President Donald Trump pardoned him and his wife Julie after they were convicted in 2022 of conspiracy to defraud banks out of more than $30 million in loans. Chrisley and his daughter Savannah spoke during a press conference in Nashville, where they thanked President Trump and 'pardon czar' Alice Johnson for their release. 'I really don't even remember driving home,' Savannah Chrisley said of receiving the call from Trump informing her of the pardon. 'I was in such shock.' Her father said he received the news from a prison staff member and contacted his daughter to confirm. 'I remember walking back from the phone and just feeling numb,' Todd Chrisley said. 'Then after about 10 minutes all I could think about was the guys that I was leaving behind.' Some of those men shouted for him to not forget them, he said, and Chrisley vowed he would not. The 'Chrisley Knows Best' stars and their accountant, Peter Tarantino, were also convicted of several tax crimes. This story is developing and will be updated
