So what worried the Trump team about former Gov. Chris Christie when it came to vetting him for a top spot in the administration?
The Bridgegate scandal that rocked his own presidential bid, his flip-flopping on guns and even his driving record were among the things members of President Donald Trump’s inner circle flagged on Christie during the transition, according to transition documents obtained by Axios.
Christie, who was passed over for vice president and attorney general, jobs he coveted, has said he was offered cabinet positions heading the Labor and the Homeland Security departments but turned them down.
He never joined the administration so he wasn’t subjected to vetting during the transition. But in the event he had agreed to join, the Trump transition put together an 18-page report on him.
Among the concerns they wanted to ask Christie is whether there was “anything additional surrounding this (Bridgegate) controversy that could come to light during the Trump administration" or whether Christie felt his “presence in the administration could create a negative public perception?"
The transition took a look at his time as a lobbyist before he served as U.S. attorney and wanted to know why he supported an assault weapons ban when he ran for the state Assembly in 1995. “Will you have moral and ethical qualm being a member of an administration that will emphasize the Second Amendment and oppose further regulation of firearms?”
The report suggested he be asked about a 2014 federal audit into his administration’s “Stronger than the Storm” ad campaign in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, which featured Christie and his family and was rolled out during his re-election campaign.
“Will you be open to accountability measures for your departments spending should the president’s staff wish to create such measures?” the report suggested Christie be asked.
It even flagged his driving record and history of accidents. (Christie hit a motorcyclist after he turned the wrong way down a one-way street in 2002. The motorcyclist sued him and the case was settled out of court.)
Read the full 18-page report here.
The report does include redactions that were made by Axios, which hid personal details, information from questionable sources and information vetting officials described as rumors, according to the website.
In an interview with Axios, Christie said Trump “didn’t have the very best people in front of him” when he sat down to fill his cabinet because of a personal feud Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, has with him.
He argued Trump’s inner circle hurt the president and “failed the country” in a disorganized attempt to put together a cabinet after tossing his transition work in the trash a few days after the 2016 election.
However, Christie, a Trump ally, has not criticized the president himself for how the cabinet was put together.
Christie was unceremoniously fired as the head of the transition two days after Trump won because of bad blood with Kushner, he said. As U.S. Attorney Christie who sent Kushner’s father, Charles Kushner, to prison for tax fraud in a salacious crime story.
And when Christie was ousted, so were his recommendations on senior staffers.
Of course, the vetting document has a few Kushner questions, including: "Do you believe that your removal as head of the Trump transition team was orchestrated by Jared Kushner?”
“Yes, I do, and the reason I do is that’s what Steve Bannon told me,” Christie told an Axios reporter.
Matt Arco may be reached at marco@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MatthewArco or Facebook.
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