Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) blasted White House senior adviser Jared Kushner in his new book, claiming President Trump’s son-in-law coordinated his removal from Trump’s transition team in an act of spite, according to The Washington Post.
Christie reportedly claims in his new book, “Let Me Finish,” that Kushner was still “seething” from when Christie prosecuted his father for tax evasion, witness tampering and illegal campaign contributions when Christie served as a U.S. attorney more than 10 years ago.
{mosads}The prosecution led to Charles Kushner, a wealthy real estate developer, being in prison for almost a year and a half and, Christie claims, was motivation for Trump’s son-in-law to plot against him and orchestrate his removal from the president’s transition team in the weeks following the 2016 election.
“Jared Kushner, still apparently seething over events that occurred a decade ago, was exacting a plot of revenge against me, a hit job that made no sense at all for the man we had just helped elect,” Christie wrote in his book, according to the Post. “And Steve Bannon, hot-shot, big-balls campaign executive, was quietly acquiescing to it.”
“What wimps, what cowards. And how disloyal to Donald Trump,” Christie added.
Christie also discussed the elder Kushner’s case during a segment with PBS’s “Firing Line With Margaret Hoover” on Tuesday.
“Mr. Kushner pled guilty, he admitted the crimes. So what am I supposed to do as a prosecutor?” Christie asked
“If a guy hires a prostitute to seduce his brother-in-law, and videotapes it, and then sends the videotape to his sister in an attempt to intimidate her from testifying before a grand jury, do I really need any more justification than that?” he continued.
“It’s one of the most loathsome, disgusting crimes that I prosecuted when I was U.S. attorney,” Christie added. “And I was a U.S. attorney in New Jersey, Margaret — so we had some loathsome and disgusting crime going on there!”
The feud between Jared Kushner and Christie has long been a subject of scrutiny for the media.
Christie was an early supporter of Trump’s after ending his own presidential campaign, and at various times was seen as a possible vice presidential candidate or pick for attorney general.
But he never got that high-profile of a role, and the animus between he and Kushner was seen as a reason.
In 2004, Charles Kushner pleaded guilty to 18 counts of filing false tax returns, witness retaliation and illegal campaign contributions.
At the time, Christie called his guilty plea a “great victory for the people of New Jersey.”
“No matter how rich and powerful any person may be, they will be held accountable for criminal conduct by this office,” he added.