Donald Trump's relationship with New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie reportedly was on an increasingly shaky foundation long before the president-elect dismissed him as head of his transition team three days after he won the election on Nov. 8.
Christie's "unceremonious dismissal was more a pile-up of grievances in the weeks before the election," The New York Times reports, based on "interviews with people close to the governor and the campaign."
The Times report apparently contradicts earlier dispatches that fingered Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law, as having a key role in Christie's termination.
In 2004, Kushner's father, Charles, was convicted of tax evasion and illegal campaign contributions in a case prosecuted by Christie, who was the U.S. attorney for the Garden State.
The elder Kushner spent three years in prison after pleading guilty to 18 felony charges.
One of the Christie's biggest debacles, according to the report, was when two aides were convicted in the Bridge-gate scandal by a federal jury the Friday before Election Day.
Christie was scheduled to campaign for Trump, the Times reports, but instead went on "Charlie Rose" on PBS to "to defend himself against weeks of damaging testimony in the trial.
"The governor’s moves so close to the election were seen as proof that for all his early support of Mr. Trump, Mr. Christie was out more for himself than for the man at the top of the ticket," according to the report.
"He may as well have been broadcasting that Mr. Trump was going to lose."
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