Christie: Trump family's lack of honesty about security clearances is 'not defensible'

[DonViejo]

By CAITLIN OPRYSKO 03/04/2019 10:19 AM EST

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said Monday that the White House’s lack of transparency surrounding security clearances for President Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner is indefensible.

Christie, a frequent defender of Trump on cable TV who came close to being his pick for vice president in 2016, said that last week’s reporting by The New York Times that Trump went against legal advice and ordered Kushner be given a security clearance — in contradiction of past statements by the president and his daughter — “make it very, very difficult” for Trump’s allies to defend him.

The Times reported that Trump’s decision to override flags raised by intelligence officials during Kushner’s background check unnerved then-chief of staff John Kelly and then-White House counsel Don McGahn, who both memorialized the incident.

In an interview on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” Christie said that the Times’ report underscores the issue with Trump’s decision to bring on family members for official positions in the White House, like Ivanka and Kushner’s roles as senior advisers. And he allowed that Trump has the right to award a security clearance to whomever he wants, though he argued the president “needs to be held to account for that.”

But, he said, “If The New York Times story is true — and I have not reason to believe it isn't — then why not tell the truth about it?” Christie asked. “Why not just say I did it, and why wouldn't Ivanka do the same? Just say, ‘Listen, my father thinks I'm trustworthy. My husband is trustworthy. He's made the decision we should have access, he’s said needs us to consult with him on these issues of foreign policy and intelligence.’”

more
https://www.politico.com/story/2019/03/04/chris-christie-trump-security-clearances-1201280

[Canoe52]

1. Christie is the go to on honesty now?

Can it get any stranger?

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

2. After all that ass-kissing, has Christie finally figured out

that Trump and his spawn are toxic and now he's trying to get their stank off him in order to preserve some chance of a political career in the future?

[C_U_L8R]

3. That's what he says on MSNBC

But what does he say on Fox? Christie seems to have different opportunistic ‘truths’ for different media audiences.

[anarch]

4. "defensible"? Sure it is..."this family were divinely appointed by God..."

"and their actions are infallible, and shall never be questioned, for the will of the God Emperor is the very will of Gawd Hisself"

[Iliyah]

5. STFU . . .

He's one of one of them posing and something else. Saying that the Democrats are just as crazy as t-rump is undeniable Republican.