President Trump’s pardon czar defended the controversial pardons for reality stars Todd and Julie Chrisley as she said the justice system was weaponized against them. Alice Marie Johnson, who was pardoned herself by Trump in 2020 before taking over his pardon process this year, told Fox News that the Chrisleys were freed because they were ‘overly sentenced.’

‘They both received a combined sentence of 19 years for a first-time nonviolent offense and, if you look at their case and how it went down, I’m going to say that, in Georgia, it was truly weaponized.’ Johnson said that the couple were endeared to the president because when they went on trial in 2022, prosecutors ‘called them the Trumps of Georgia.’ The couple were found guilty in 2022 on charges of bank fraud, wire fraud and tax evasion, after defrauding community banks in Atlanta from $36 million by submitting false financial documents.

Todd was sentenced to 12 years in prison and Julie received a seven-year sentence, but now both walk free after Trump pardoned them earlier this week. Johnson said their white-collar crimes showed her that ‘they don’t pose a risk to society’, and said she hopes they use their freedom to praise President Trump. ‘I know that they’re going to use their voices and their platform to uplift the president’s agenda,’ she said. Todd and Julie were each released from their prisons in Florida and Kentucky, respectively, hours after Trump signed their pardons on Wednesday evening.

Johnson said the decision to release the reality TV stars came after she assessed their ‘rehabilitation’ behind bars. ‘Have they not only admitted, but are they remorseful for what they’ve done?’ she said she asked herself. Johnson said she takes these considerations on board for any potential pardon, with Trump also pardoning rapper NBA Young Boy and former Congressman Michael Grimm this week.

‘I look at what the staff says about them… and do they pose a safety risk to the community?’ she said. ‘That’s one of the big things, because we don’t want to release someone that would pose a risk to the community.’ Johnson was previously convicted of cocaine trafficking in 1996 and was sentenced to life imprisonment, but was released after 21 years when Trump granted her clemency. He later pardoned her, and named her as his administration’s ‘Pardon Czar’ this year.

Grimm’s pardon comes 11 years after he was convicted of tax fraud. He served seven months in jail and carried out 200 hours of community service for the offense. He won reelection in 2014 despite being under indictment for underreporting wages and revenue at a restaurant he ran. However, he resigned the following year after pleading guilty. Grimm, who notoriously threatened to throw a reporter off a balcony during the 2014 State of the Union, was previously accused of having intercourse in the bathroom of a bar after spending more than 15 minutes locked away with a female friend.

Last year he was paralyzed from the chest down when he was thrown off a horse during a polo tournament. The president also pardoned a labor union leader who pleaded guilty to failing to report gifts from an advertising firm. James Callahan, of Lindenhurst, New York, was general president of the International Union of Operating Engineers when he accepted – but failed to properly report – receiving at least $315,000 in tickets to sporting events and concerts and other amenities from a company that the union used to place ads.

U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes was scheduled to sentence Callahan on Wednesday. On Tuesday, however, Callahan’s attorneys notified the court of Trump’s ‘full and unconditional’ pardon and asked for the sentencing hearing to be vacated. Earlier this month, prosecutors had recommended a prison sentence of six months for Callahan, calling him ‘one of the most powerful union leaders in the country.’ They said Callahan’s salary and other compensation topped $500,000 annually. Now retired and living in Florida, he has a net worth of more than $5 million, according to prosecutors.

Meanwhile, ex-Chicago gang leader Larry Hoover has had his sentence commuted. Hoover has been serving multiple life sentences for murder and running a criminal enterprise. He was already serving a 200-year state sentence for the murder of a rival when he was indicted in federal court in 2995, before he was charged with continuing to oversee his murderous drug gang from prison and was convicted in 1997 then sentencing to life in prison.

Trump also said Wednesday that he’s considering pardons for the men who plotted to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. ‘I’m going to look at it. I will take a look at it. It’s been brought to my attention,’ he said in the Oval Office on Wednesday. ‘I did watch the trial. It looked to me like somewhat of a railroad job, I’ll be honest with you.’ ‘It looked to me like some people said some stupid things. You know, they were drinking, and I think they said stupid things,’ he added.

Trump claimed there was bipartisan support for the pardon. ‘A lot of people are asking me that question from both sides actually,’ he said. ‘A lot of people think they got railroaded. A lot of people think they got railroaded.’ In 2020, during Trump’s first term, federal prosecutors charged six people with conspiring to kidnap Whitmer.