The prosecution rests in Todd and Julie Chrisley’s bank and tax fraud trial, making way for the defense to call upon their witnesses, including Todd Chrisley’s eldest child Lindsie Chrisley. The 32-year-old is the daughter of the Chrisley Knows Best star from his first marriage and once reported her father to the FBI, alleging threats of exploitation and swore she’d never reconcile with her dad. On Thursday, the single mom apparently changed her tune as she came to her dad’s defense.
Lindsie Chrisley testified that her father’s priorities are “his children and his wife, in that order.” She also told the jury that when she was in high school and early college, she worked at her father’s company during the same time as Mark Braddock, Chrisley’s former business partner. Braddock, who has given testimony throughout the week, was not done. He, along with a former accountant named Alina Clerie and bankers were also called to testify.
According to Mark Braddock and Alina Clerie, their former boss would take money from business accounts to pay for his personal expenses, leaving nothing to pay employees or bills. They further testified that when they tried to reign in Todd Chrisley’s spending or denied distributions from the account, he would throw expletive-filled tantrums. The two said they eventually got so tired of the way Chrisley was running the business that they began an attempt to start their own without telling Chrisley.
A local interior designer also came forward to testify about emails sent to Chrisley Knows Best production company with a furniture repair estimate which he stated did not come from him nor had he ever seen the documents. Allegedly, Julie Chrisley sent them using a fake letterhead.
The Prosecution Rests and the Defense Begins
Lindsie Chrisley told the jury on Thursday that she hadn’t spoken with her father for about two years before he reached out to her with a request to meet up in 2019. They met at a rib shack for what she thought would result in him apologizing for their past issues. Instead, Todd Chrisley wanted to let her know about his upcoming indictment. Around two months later, she told investigators that her father and brother Chase were threatening to release a sex tape on her. She also appeared on Dr. Phil to talk about the alleged extortion.
She added that it is her belief that Mark Braddock hated her, and her siblings, didn’t like it when she was in the office and that he was rude, demanding, and belittling at work. Lindsie Chrisley further stated Braddock had a “Napoleon complex” and would use her father’s personal email account and instant messaging account in the office during her time of employment at the company.
On cross-examination, things got a little tense when prosecutors pushed Lindsie Chrisley to discuss the different sides of her father and entered emails into evidence that showed she reached out to the FBI shortly after her father’s indictment begging for their help in getting a restraining order against him. In 2020, she wrote: “I am in no way, shape, or form connected to this monster.”
She then began to evade questions by the prosecution about contacting the FBI and was combative in her responses to the point where members of the jury had outbursts, commenting on her attitude. Judge Eleanor Ross eventually interrupted:
“You’re not doing anybody any favors by answering questions like that. Trust me. Trust me.”
It is not clear as to who else the defense will call upon to testify as the trial heads into week two.