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The Chris Christie Jared Kushner Transition Battle: Donald Trump Makes Mike Pence Head Of Transition, But Are Shots Being Called By Son-In-Law Kushner?

Published on: November 17, 2016 at 12:16 PM
By Daniel Ketchum

The Chris Christie Jared Kushner transition battle – as reported by CNN – has over the last week led to what amounts to a purge of both Governor Chris Christie and Christie supporters in the Donald Trump transition team. Many are suggesting that this was caused by long-standing animosity between Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and Chris Christie.

As reported by CNN , there have been claims that this situation resulted from Chris Christie’s involvement in the Bridgegate scandal in New Jersey, as well as Christie’s occasional distancing of himself from Donald Trump during some of Trump’s more serious campaign scandals . But there is likely more to it than this.

The Problem with Chris Christie

Jared Kushner evidently resents Chris Christie’s prosecution of his father – Charles Kushner – for white-collar crimes. According to NBC News , the purge of Christie and his supporters was really a direct consequence of this resentment. This prosecution took place in the early 2000’s and largely revolved around illegal campaign contributions and tax evasion charges.

The elder Kushner actually went to prison for one year, and then prosecuting US attorney Chris Christie trumpeted his successful conviction as a triumph of justice. Jared Kushner obviously didn’t quite see it that way, and the last few months of this campaign – and certainly the last few weeks – have given him an opportunity to demonstrate this to Governor Christie.

At one point in Donald Trump’s extremely unusual and convoluted campaign, Chris Christie was actually the leading contender to become his vice presidential nominee. CBS News suggests that Christie had actually been selected as VP and the offer was withdrawn at the urging of Jared Kushner.

Chris Christie Jared Kushner Conflict Impact

According to The Associated Press , Donald Trump views his son-in-law Jared Kushner as one of his closest confidants, relying on him heavily for the transition team decision-making. In fact, although Governor Mike Pence – now Vice President-elect Mike Pence – has putatively replaced Chris Christie as leader of the transition team, Kushner may actually have more influence over the process.

As pointed out by ABC News , the Trump campaign has apparently asked for security clearances for Jared Kushner that would not normally be provided to a family member. This indicates just how integral a part of the Trump transition team he actually is.

While the Trump team argues that Christie will still serve in an advisory capacity, it seems clear he’s out. In addition to Christie himself being tossed from the presidential transition team, several other prominent Christie supporters who were participating in the transition process have also been removed or diminished over the last week, such as former Congressman Mike Rogers.

As noted by The Associated Press , the implications for the already troubled Trump transition are significant. Because of the assumption by many – even in the Trump campaign itself – that they were not going to win the election, the Donald Trump transition team under Christie apparently did very little work toward preparing for a potential Trump administration.

But ousting Christie and anyone associated with him from the transition seems to have created even greater chaos and confusion. According to CNN , officials at the State Department and other federal agencies would normally have been contacted by now by the incoming president’s transition team, but this is not the case with Trump’s transition.

It’s usually preferable for an incoming president to have chosen and positioned most of the administration’s new officials well before Inauguration Day. That way, they can hit the ground running and there will be fewer problems to interfere with the smooth management of government agencies and policies.

Jared Kushner and wife Ivanka Trump at gala. The Chris Christie Jared Kushner transition war has Kushner winning. [Image by Mike Coppola/Getty Images for People.com]

This is particularly important when it comes to matters of national security, international relations and military operations. But at this juncture, the ongoing Chris Christie Jared Kushner transition battle seems to have thrown the Trump transition into pandemonium. Many outside observers and experts feel this does not bode well for the first few months of a Donald Trump administration .

[Featured Image by Alex Wong/Getty Images]

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