- The Washington Times - Tuesday, October 31, 2023

Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie on Tuesday said “it’s over” for former President Donald Trump, forecasting a conviction in one of his legal cases.

The big problem for Mr. Trump is that his White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows, was granted immunity, said the former New Jersey governor.

“This is a guy who was velcroed to Trump’s hip for the entire 2020 campaign and all the post-campaign nonsense,” Mr. Christie said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” “And so this is deadly, it’s done. He’s going to be convicted. … It’s over.”

Mr. Meadows was granted an immunity deal last week to testify in front of a grand jury in the election subversion case the former president is facing in the District of Columbia brought on by Special Counsel Jack Smith and his team.

The former chief of staff is not charged alongside Mr. Trump in the case but is being charged in the 2020 Georgia election interference case.

Mr. Christie said he doesn’t think District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is overseeing Mr. Trump’s case, would be open to any delays.

“I don’t have the impression that this district court judge in Washington is amenable to delay,” he said.

He added, “She has not given much at this point into the defense claims for delay, and I think that’s why Jack Smith indicted this with just Trump, right? Because you don’t have multiple defendants … this is it.”

Mr. Christie, a former federal prosecutor, said, “You don’t give Mark Meadows immunity unless the evidence he has is unimpeachable.”

Mr. Trump’s Washington trial is set for March 4.

The Washington Times reached out to the Trump campaign for comment.

• Mallory Wilson can be reached at mwilson@washingtontimes.com.

Copyright © 2024 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission.

Please read our comment policy before commenting.