The estranged daughter of reality star Todd Chrisley is accusing her dad of using family drama to 'deflect' from his legal woes.
Lindsie Chrisley is firing back at her father and stepmother, Todd and Julie Chrisley, after they accused her of maintaining a relationship with a tax investigator, whom they say abused his power as part of an effort to prosecute "bogus tax evasion claims" against them.
In a statement to ET from Lindsie's lawyer, Musa M. Ghanayem, the former reality star says, "Once again, Lindsie is so grateful for all of your support during this very difficult time for her. Despite the fact that Lindsie has nothing to do with Mr. and Mrs. Chrisley's civil and criminal tax matters, it seems they have made her the main focus of their attention in order to distract from their own wrongdoing."
"As you can see from the episode of Dr. Phil which airs today, we have known about the allegations in the Chrisleys' lawsuit for some time now, and they come as no surprise," the statement continues. "We were aware that somehow, Lindsie, who has repeatedly denied any knowledge of her father's crimes, would once again be dragged back into this unfortunate situation. We wish that Todd and Julie would focus on their upcoming federal criminal trial rather than using their daughter to deflect attention away from their sad situation."
Todd and Julie recently filed a lawsuit against the director of the Georgia Department of Revenue's Office of Special Investigations, Joshua Waites, alleging that he specifically targeted Lindsie in an effort to "induce her to reveal compromising information about her family," and to gain media attention for himself. The Chrisleys claim that Waites pursued "an increasingly aggressive relationship with Lindsie," and improperly shared their confidential tax and grand jury information that he had learned through his position with the Department of Revenue to gain her trust and to intimidate her into cooperation.
The lawsuit cites a series of alleged text messages revealing that Lindsie stayed in touch with Waites over a period of at least 18 months, during which he allegedly improperly informed Lindsie of developments in her father’s case and told her about other cases, raids and arrests in which he was involved, even sharing photos of people he had taken into custody.
"Ultimately Waites's efforts failed, but in the process, the Chrisleys were forced to incur substantial personal and financial hardship," the lawsuit states.
Lindsie sat down with Dr. Phil to talk about her estranged parents' accusations against her and ongoing legal battle -- court documents obtained by ET in August show that Todd and Julie have been indicted on multiple federal counts of conspiracy, bank fraud, wire fraud and tax evasion, though they were cleared of state tax evasion charges in Georgia on Oct. 8 -- in an episode that airs on Thursday. In her lawyer's statement, the former reality star says, "Hopefully, today's episode of Dr. Phil and this statement will help to shed light on what Lindsie has been enduring over the last few years."
"Lindsie's strength comes from the love and support of her Husband Will, Son Jackson, her Christian faith, and all of her beloved fans and friends," the statement concludes. "We wish to remain distant from the situation that Lindsie's parents find themselves in. If Mr. Chrisley has truly forgiven his daughter and truly loves her as he says, then we hope that he will no longer involve her in his litigation, no longer attempt to or actually procure nude photos and videos of her, and no longer threaten her with humiliation and cyberbullying."
On Thursday's Dr. Phil, Lindsie recounts an encounter with her father as his legal troubles began to mount, in which she says Todd asked to meet with her at a restaurant in Chattanooga, Tennessee. While she initially thought the meeting was because of a change of heart due to her family's legal turmoil, Lindsie claims her father actually met with her to grill her on her relationship with Waites, and ultimately threaten her with "incriminating evidence," which included nude photos and a sex tape -- accusations Todd has since denied, according to his daughter.
"I said, 'No, that's not the truth,'" she said of the conversation about Waites. "I said, 'But while we're on the topic of lies, let's talk about the social media stuff that I've endured over the past two years from you and your two minion children. And that's when I got the warning that Chase had incriminating evidence against me, nude photos, and had obtained this tape for $5,000. At that point, the conversation was over for me, and my attorney advised me to file the police report."
In August, Todd responded to reports that Lindsie filed a police report in Georgia in July and accused him and her 23-year-old brother, Chase, of extorting her over a sex tape. In a statement to ET, he alleged that Lindsie had affairs with Bachelor stars Robby Hayes and Josh Murray.
Lindsie's sister, Savannah Chrislie, recently spoke with reporters about her family's legal troubles, calling her sister's accusations "extremely sad."
"I stand behind my mom and dad. I know how they've raised us and the values they taught us," Savannah said in the video obtained by ET. "So, if they taught us those values, it means they have them themselves."
See more in the video below.
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