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.”
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Reality television star Todd Chrisley speaks during a news conference on Friday, May 30, 2025 in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
Savannah Chrisley, daughter of reality television star Todd Chrisley, waits for the release of her father at the Federal Prison Camp, Wednesday, May 28, 2025, in Pensacola, Fla. (AP Photo/Dan Anderson)
Savannah Chrisley, daughter of reality television star Todd Chrisley speaks during a news conference on Friday, May 30, 2025 in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
Reality television star Todd Chrisley speaks as his daughter Savannah Chrisley looks on during a news conference on Friday, May 30, 2025 in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
Reality television star Todd Chrisley speaks during a news conference on Friday, May 30, 2025 in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
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.
Reality television star Todd Chrisley speaks during a news conference on Friday, May 30, 2025 in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
Savannah Chrisley, daughter of reality television star Todd Chrisley, waits for the release of her father at the Federal Prison Camp, Wednesday, May 28, 2025, in Pensacola, Fla. (AP Photo/Dan Anderson)
Savannah Chrisley, daughter of reality television star Todd Chrisley speaks during a news conference on Friday, May 30, 2025 in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
Reality television star Todd Chrisley speaks as his daughter Savannah Chrisley looks on during a news conference on Friday, May 30, 2025 in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
Reality television star Todd Chrisley speaks during a news conference on Friday, May 30, 2025 in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
PARIS (AP) — France’s far-right leader Marine Le Pen denied any wrongdoing as she appeared in court on Tuesday to appeal an embezzlement conviction, with her 2027 presidential ambitions hanging on the outcome of the case.
Le Pen, 57, is seeking to overturn a March ruling that found her guilty of misusing European Parliament funds in the hiring of aides from 2004 to 2016. She was given a five-year ban from holding elected office, two years of house arrest with an electronic bracelet, a further two-year suspended sentence and a 100,000-euro ($116,800) fine.
“I'd like to tell the court that ... we did not feel we had committed any offence,” Le Pen told the three-judge panel. She said European Parliament officials did not at the time tell her party that the way it was hiring people was potentially against any rules.
"We have never concealed anything," she added. The room was packed with dozens of reporters and members of the general public.
The European Parliament's lawyer, Patrick Maisonneuve, said he disagrees with Le Pen's presentation of the institution's role as "an arbitrator."
“There’s a contradiction in saying at the same time: ‘I deny you the right to examine the content of my work as a member of parliament’ and then saying: ‘but the European Parliament didn’t conduct a thorough review,’” Maisonneuve told reporters.
Le Pen was seen as the potential front-runner to succeed President Emmanuel Macron in the 2027 election until last year's ruling, which sent shock waves through French politics. She denounced it as “a democratic scandal.”
Her National Rally party has been coming out on top in opinion polls, and Le Pen alleged that the judicial system brought out “the nuclear bomb” to prevent her from becoming France’s president.
Anti-corruption campaigners argue that Le Pen’s conviction was proof that French democracy works, and that no one is above the law. Advocacy group Transparency France noted that her conviction came after years of investigation and a lengthy trial in which Le Pen and other party members were able to freely defend their positions.
The appeal trial, involving Le Pen, 10 other defendants and the National Rally party as a legal entity, is scheduled to last for five weeks. The panel is expected to announce its verdict later, possibly before summer.
Several scenarios are possible, from acquittal to another conviction that may bar her from running in 2027. She also could face an even tougher punishment if convicted anew — up to 10 years in prison and a fine of 1 million euros ($1.17 million).
In March, Le Pen and other party officials were convicted of using money intended for EU parliamentary assistants who instead had other duties between 2004 and 2016, in violation of EU rules. Some did work for the party, known as the National Front at the time, in French domestic politics, the court said.
In handing down the sentence, the judge said Le Pen was at the heart of a “system” set up to siphon off EU parliament funds — including to pay for her bodyguard and her chief of staff.
All defendants denied wrongdoing, and Le Pen argued the money was used in a legitimate way. The judge said Le Pen and the others did not enrich themselves personally.
The legal proceedings initially stemmed from a 2015 alert raised by Martin Schulz, then-president of the European Parliament, to French authorities.
The case and its fallout weigh heavily on Le Pen’s political future after more than a decade spent trying to bring the far right into France’s political mainstream. Since taking over the party from her late father, Jean-Marie Le Pen in 2011, she has sought to shed its reputation for racism and antisemitism, changing its name, expelling her father in 2015 and softening the party’s platform and her own public image.
The National Rally is now the largest single political group in France’s lower house of parliament and has built a broad network of elected officials across the country. It is most well-known for its anti-immigration, nationalist stance and its rhetoric often targeting Muslims.
Le Pen and other party members also have long criticized the EU and its rules and campaigned for more national sovereignty, even while serving in the EU Parliament. She stepped down as party president in 2021 to focus on the presidential race, handing the role to Jordan Bardella.
If Le Pen is ultimately prevented from running in 2027, Bardella, 30, is widely expected to be her successor. His popularity has surged, particularly among younger voters, though some within the party have questioned his leadership.
Le Pen's potential conviction would be “deeply worrying for (France's) democracy,” Bardella said Monday in a New Year address.
AP journalists Angela Charlton, John Leicester, Nicolas Vaux-Montagny and Catherine Gaschka contributed to this report.
Far-right leader Marine Le Pen returns after a break during her appeal trial after an embezzlement conviction, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026 in Paris. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
In this courtroom sketch, French far-right leader Marine Le Pen, center left, appears in court with other members of the far-right National Rally party, to appeal an embezzlement conviction that risks affecting her 2027 presidential ambitions Tuesday, Jan. 13, 1970 in Paris. (AP Photo/Valentin Pasquier)
Far-right leader Marine Le Pen leaves for a break during her appeal trial after an embezzlement conviction, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026 in Paris. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
Far-right leader Marine Le Pen leaves for a break during her appeal trial after an embezzlement conviction, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026 in Paris. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
European Parliament lawyer Patrick Maisonneuve arrives to an appeal court for far-right leader Marine Le Pen's appeal trial for an embezzlement conviction, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026 in Paris. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
Far-right leader Marine Le Pen arrives for her appeal trial after an embezzlement conviction, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026 in Paris. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
Far-right party National Rally president Jordan Bardella speaks during his New Year address to the press, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026 in Paris. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
Far-right leader Marine Le Pen arrives at National Rally president Jordan Bardella's New Year address to the press, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026 in Paris. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
Far-right leader Marine Le Pen, center, is framed by Louis Aliot, left, and conservative lawmaker Eric Ciotti during National Rally president Jordan Bardella's New Year address to the press, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026 in Paris. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
