Fighting back! Two weeks after settling tax evasion charges in Georgia, Todd and Julie Chrisley are suing Georgia Department of Revenue’s Office of Special Investigations Director Joshua Waites for “abusing the power of his office and violating both federal and state law” during the probe, according to a press release.
The Chrisley Knows Best couple allege in their suit that Waites “aggressively” pursued a relationship with Lindsie Chrisley, Todd’s daughter from his first marriage, “in an effort to induce her to reveal compromising information about her family.”
In the suit obtained by Us Weekly, the couple claim that Lindsie had “no such information” but Waites “persisted, pursuing an increasingly aggressive relationship with Lindsie, in which he improperly shared the Chrisleys’ confidential tax and other information with her in an effort to gain her trust or to intimidate her into cooperation.”
William Gaston, Press Officer for the Office of the Commissioner, Georgia Department of Revenue, called the Chrisleys’ accusations “unfounded” in a statement to Us Weekly on Tuesday. “Our investigators are fair and impartial in their work with a commitment to ensuring compliance with the law,” Gaston stated. “In accordance with state law and as a matter of standard protocol, the Department cannot comment on the specifics of any investigation, settlement, or pending litigation. This development is disappointing and their accusations are unfounded, but we will decline to provide any further comment on this matter.”
On September 28, Todd and Julie settled charges of owing nearly $2 million in Georgia state taxes. In the agreement, the duo agreed to pay $150,000, according to the Associated Press. They still face federal tax evasion charges, to which they’ve pleaded not guilty.
Additionally, a police report obtained by E! News in August reveals that Lindsie had accused Todd and Chase Chrisley, Todd and Julie’s eldest child, of wanting her “to lie about an incident” and threatening to release an alleged sex tape of her.
Todd denied his daughter’s accusations in a statement to E! News in August, claiming that she had had affairs with two former Bachelorette contestants. “It’s heartbreaking and shameful that these kinds of accusations have to be aired in public,” he said at the time. “We have tried to keep Lindsie’s extramarital relationships with Robby Hayes and Josh Murray [during her marriage to Will Campbell] private for her sake since August of 2016,” he said in the statement. “Sadly, for reasons we can only guess at, she ran to the sheriff’s office to accuse her brother of buying a sex tape of her and Robby, which was a complete lie, and now she’s telling more lies about me. … Although our hearts are broken, Lindsie is our daughter and we will always love her.”
With reporting by Travis Cronin
