NASHVILLE, Tenn. — For the first time since his pardon and release, reality star Todd Chrisley answered questions from the media, and he is still insisting he did nothing wrong.
Channel 2’s Michael Doudna was the only Atlanta TV station reporter in Nashville at the news conference on Friday, where Chrisley maintained he was a victim in this prosecution and that he was a target because of his celebrity status.
He then thanked God, President Donald Trump, and his daughter for his release.
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“I woke up the first morning, and I was looking around, and I’m like, this is really real. I’m home,” Chrisley said.
Trump’s pardon absolves Todd Chrisley and his wife, Julie, of federal convictions years in the making.
Channel 2 Action News first reported in 2017 on how the Chrisleys lied about where they lived and owed thousands in back taxes while broadcasting their lavish lifestyle.
In 2022, a federal court sentenced the couple to years in prison for bank fraud and tax evasion, something Todd Chrisley maintains he never did, despite his wife apologizing in court last year.
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“Do I have any remorse? I would have remorse if it was something that I did,” Todd Chrisley said.
“Well, your wife did apologize last year,” Doudna told Chrisley.
“Well, let me explain to you how that works, if you don’t mind. You’re placed in a position as a defendant to either bow down and kiss the ass of the Department of Justice and accept responsibility for things that you did not do in order to avoid a stronger sentence,” Chrisley said.
“I can say this, post-conviction pardons are given to the guilty, which I think speaks for itself,” said Kevin Ward, who represented one of the Chrisley creditors.
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Ward said the pardon seems political, especially as Savannah Chrisley vocally supported Trump at the RNC last year while pushing for a pardon.
“It smacks a little bit. If you have fealty, you get favors,” Ward said.
“People think, ‘Oh, you’re a celebrity, you’re white, you have money, that we got an upper hand,’ and we didn’t,” Savannah Chrisley told reporters.
In the end, the pardons provide a clean slate, reuniting a family and freeing them for future opportunities.
“We’re blessed to have our family back, and we’re blessed to be coming back to television,” Todd Chrisley said.
He said they will also be fighting for better conditions for those in federal prison after their experience with the system.
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