Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie says former White House national security adviser Michael Flynn called President Trump’s son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner a day after he was fired, upset about then-press secretary Sean Spicer’s performance at a briefing.
Flynn, who later pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about two contacts with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak — one reportedly after speaking with Kushner — called Trump’s son-in-law on Feb. 14, as Christie joined Trump for a meatloaf lunch at the White House.
“[W]e could see Sean Spicer on the TV in the dining room. The president’s press secretary was speaking from the White House briefing room, addressing the controversy around General Michael Flynn,” Christie writes in his new book. “Just then, Jared’s phone rang. It was Flynn complaining about whatever it was that Spicer was saying.”
Christie continues: “I turned to the president and said to him, ‘You see? When you have a crazy person in your life, you can never get rid of him. Crazy people don’t act like sane people. They’re crazy. You’re never going to be able to get rid of this guy. He is going to be like gum on the bottom of your shoe for years to come.’”
Christie describes Flynn, ostensibly fired for lying to Vice President Mike Pence about his contacts with Kislyak, as a “walking car crash” in his memoir, Let Me Finish: Trump, the Kushners, Bannon, New Jersey, and the Power of In-Your-Face Politics, which was released Tuesday. The former governor writes that he strongly argued against hiring Flynn, who in December 2017 agreed to cooperate with special counsel Robert Mueller.
The book settles scores against Christie opponents, including Kushner, who was influential in Christie being fired from his role a transition chairman two days after the 2016 election. Christie had successfully prosecuted and jailed Kushner’s father for campaign finance, tax evasion, and witness tampering crimes.
[Chris Christie: Jared Kushner carried out a political ‘hit job’ against me]
Before Flynn called Kushner, Christie says that both Trump and Kushner had argued that Flynn’s firing would end public inquiries into Russia’s role in the 2016 election.
“This Russia thing is all over now, because I fired Flynn,” Trump reportedly told Christie.
“Firing Flynn ends the whole Russia thing,” Kushner reportedly agreed.
Christie writes that he laughed and told Trump, “this Russia thing is far from over.”
