Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie slams Jared Kushner in his new book, claiming that President Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser pushed him out of the transition team, according to several media reports.
Several excerpts from “Let Me Finish,” first published by The Guardian on Tuesday, describe why Mr. Christie believes Mr. Kushner carried out a political “hit job.”
He wrote that former White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon “made clear to me that one person and one person only was responsible for the faceless execution that Steve was now attempting to carry out. Jared Kushner, still apparently seething over events that had occurred a decade ago.”
Mr. Christie was referring to when, as a federal prosecutor, he won a case against Mr. Kushner’s father — Charles Kushner — in the early 2000s and sent the elder Kushner to jail for more than a year. The scandalous affair also exposed a sex tape that Mr. Kushner created to hurt his brother-in-law.
“The kid’s been taking an ax to your head with the boss [Trump] ever since I got here,” Mr. Bannon said, according to Mr. Christie’s account.
Michael Lewis, author of “The Fifth Risk,” which focuses on the Trump transition period, also wrote about the Kushner-Christie conflict. In his 2018 book, Mr. Lewis described the longstanding family feud and how Mr. Kushner diminished Mr. Christie’s power on the transition team.
Mr. Christie wrote that Mr. Kushner urged the president in April 2016 to not bring the New Jersey governor into the transition team as chairman.
“He implied I had acted unethically and inappropriately but didn’t state one fact to back that up,” Mr. Christie wrote. “Just a lot of feelings — very raw feelings that had been simmering for a dozen years.”
Mr. Christie blamed Mr. Kushner for blocking him from becoming the vice presidential pick and a handful of other prominent positions he was hoping for, including attorney general or Republican National Committee chairman. He turned down several other offers for administration positions.
In December, Mr. Christie met with the president about the open chief of staff position but he ultimately took himself out of the running.
“Let Me Finish” will hit the stands on Jan. 29.
• Gabriella Muñoz can be reached at gmunoz@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.