Nov 8, 2018 - World
"An honest guy": What Chris Christie has said about the Mueller investigation
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Former New Jersey governor Chris Christie is being considered to replace Jeff Sessions as attorney general, according to CNN and CBS News.
Why it matters: Barring a recusal, the next attorney general will oversee the Russia investigation. Christie remains a Trump loyalist on most issues, but has been outspoken in his defense of special counsel Robert Mueller and his belief that Trump should let the investigation proceed uninterrupted.
What he's said:
- On Trump's attacks on Mueller (May, 2018): "I've told [Trump] many times that there's no way to make an investigation like this shorter, but there's lots of ways to make it longer. And he's executed on a number of those ways to make it longer... Bob Mueller himself is not a partisan, he's an honest guy, he is a hard working guy, he's smart and you can't argue that the investigation hasn't been effective so far."
- On bias in the Mueller investigation (Dec., 2017): "Bob Mueller is a good man who I think will try to do the right thing by this investigation, but that doesn't mean he's perfect. And by allowing folks [like Peter Strzok and Andrew Weissmann] into the investigation that can be charged, based upon their own words, with having a bias towards Mrs. Clinton or against President Trump, it's an issue."
- On Don McGahn cooperating with Mueller (April, 2018): "This shows what a C-level legal team the president had at the beginning with Ty Cobb and John Dowd. You never waive [executive privilege], absolutely not, and it put Don McGahn in an impossible situation. Once you waive that privilege and you turn over all those documents, Don McGahn has no choice then but to go in and answer everything, answer every question they can ask him."
- On Trump sitting down for an interview with Mueller (April, 2018): "He should never walk into that room with Robert Mueller. Because in the end, one of the things that makes the president who he is, is that he’s a salesman. And salesmen, at times, tend to be hyperbolic. Right, and this president certainly has tended to do that. That’s OK when you’re on the campaign hustle. That’s OK when you’re working on Congress. It is not OK when you’re sitting talking to federal agents... That can send you to jail.”
- On Jared Kushner (Dec., 2017): "He deserves the scrutiny. You know why? Because he was involved in the transition and involved in meetings that call into question his role."
- On Rudy Giuliani claiming the president can't obstruct justice (June, 2018): "It's an outrageous claim. It's wrong."
- On Trump Tower meeting (Aug., 2017): "This meeting was ill-advised. This is not something that should have happened...Everybody in retrospect knew this was a bad idea. But let's not jump ahead of ourselves. We don't know if the president knew about those emails."
Axios will be publishing these previews on different topics as potential names are floated for Attorney General.
