10 Surprising Revelations In Ex-Gov. Chris Christie's New Book

Former Gov. Chris Christie has never been at a loss for words, and his newly released book doesn't seem to spare any as he dishes on President Trump, Bridgegate, his failed pesidential run and many other controversial aspects of his eight years in the Statehouse.

Christie appears to save his biggest salvos in "Let Me Finish" for those who allegedly worked against him in the Trump campaign and White House. Topping that list would be chief stategist Steve Bannon, who allegedly told him, "We do not want you to be in the building anymore," after Christie was removed from his position as head of the transition team.

Another target was Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law and a presidential advisor whose father, Charles, was prosecuted by Christie a decade ago.

Here is what Christie said:

Getting removed from Trump's transition team

Christie talked about how, two days after Donald Trump "shocked nearly everyone by getting himself elected president," Trump’s “campaign CEO” was even more abrupt than usual.

"Steve Bannon is the only person I have ever met who can look pretentious and like an unmade bed at the very same time," Christie said.

In a Trump Tower meeting, Christie said Bannon motioned for him to shut the door and sit down.

“We’ve decided to make a change,” he said, getting right to the point. “Good,” I answered. “What are we changing?” His response came in a single word. “You.”

Me? “The vice president is going to be the new chairman of the transition,” Steve went on, “and you’re out. Going forward, you have no position of any kind in the transition, and we do not want you to be in the building anymore.”

Christie, as US Attorney, dealing with former Gov. Jim McGreevey's 2004 resignation

In the summer of 2004, Christie said an extortion allegation enveloped McGreevey. On the morning of August 12, he said he got a call from McGreevey’s lawyer, Marc Elias, asking him to investigate a blackmail attempt by the governor’s secret gay lover, Golan Cipel.

Within hours, McGreevey, with his wife, Dina at his side, announced he was “a gay American” and would resign from office effective November 15. By the time the day was over, Cipel was threatening to file a sexual-harassment lawsuit, claiming he’d been fired for deflecting the governor’s persistent sexual advances. How quickly careers can come crashing down.

Blowback after prosecuting Jared Kushner's father, Charles, a prominent developer.

Charles Kushner’s sentencing was held on March 4, 2005, Christie noted. He was convicted of illegal campaign contributions, tax evasion and witness tampering.

Despite his philanthropic deeds, the judge gave him the max.

And that, I assumed, was the last I would ever hear about the convicted felon Charles Kushner and his deeply tortured family. Little did I know.

His meeting with President Obama after Superstorm Sandy

Obama told Christie he wanted to come visit the state. “Are you okay with that?” he allegedly asked Christie.

"No one had to tell me how politically loaded these two sentences were. A Democratic president, running for reelection in less than a week, flying into my state to express concern for the victims of a highly publicized natural disaster. And who would be greeting him? Mitt Romney’s highest-profile surrogate," Christie said.

“Mr. President,” I said. “You tell me what airport you’re landing at, and I will be there to greet you.” “Are you sure?” he asked. “Yes, sir, I’m sure,” I said. “And on behalf of the people of New Jersey, we appreciate your willingness to come and see this for yourself.”

Trump tried to get Christie to do something about his weight

Christie talked about how he had dinner with Trump in 2005 and how he was late. "Donald, always punctual, was not amused," he said

"As soon as I breezed into the restaurant at the Trump World Tower across from the United Nations, he told the waiter, 'Quick with the menus. We have to order now,' " Christie said.

Finally, as the entrée plates were being bussed away, he turned to me. “I want to tell you something because I’m your friend, and I love you, and someday I want you to be governor,” he said. “You have to lose weight.”

“Forget about whether you’re going to die of a heart attack or a stroke,” he said. “Forget that. You gotta look better to be able to win.” A friend of his, he said, had just gotten a new kind of surgery. “It’s the greatest thing. It’s perfect for you.” “Okay. What’s that?” “It’s called lap-band surgery.” “What the hell is lap-band surgery?” I asked. “Quick surgery. Takes forty-five minutes to an hour."

How he thought he found out he wouldn't be Trump's vice-presidential nominee.

Trump, he said, called him in his Trenton office and asked, “Are you willing to be considered for vice president?”

"I don’t think he was surprised by my answer.'Yes,' I told him without hesitation. From the day Mary Pat and I showed up at Trump Tower for our endorsement breakfast with Donald and Melania, I’d been open with him about my interest in the job. Vice president and attorney general," Christie said. "Those were the two positions I had my eye on."

Some time after that, Christie said he got word from my New Jersey state troopers that Mike Pence was flying into Teterboro.

"Now, that pissed me off. Donald had offered it to Pence, and he didn’t even call me. So, I called Donald. “Hey,” I said, “the least you could do, when you made a final decision, is to let me know.” “I haven’t made any final decision,” he said. “You haven’t made any final decision? You haven’t offered the vice presidency to anybody?” “Absolutely not.” “Well, then, explain to me why Mike Pence is landing at Teterboro in half an hour.” “I have no fucking idea,” Donald said. “Well, I’m telling you that I know he’s landing at Teterboro within the hour,” I said. “How do you know that?” he said.

“I’m the governor of the state where he’s landing!” “Chris,” he said, “I swear to God I haven’t offered it to him. This must be Manafort trying to force my hand.”

The Access Hollywood tape

In September 2017, Christie noted, Bannon would go on CBS’s 60 Minutes with Charlie Rose and deliver a version of “Billy Bush Weekend,” when a tape of Trump making comments about grabbing women by their private parts was released a month before the November 2016 election.

Bannon, he said, had talked about how the aftermath of that revelation really showed who Trump's friends are, and who would stay loyal to him. Bannon had cited Christie as somebody who was not loyal.

Bannon, he said, claimed that he warned Christie "that if I didn’t get on the plane to the debate in St. Louis, I would be thrown off the campaign."

“The plane leaves at eleven in the morning,” he quoted himself as telling me. “If you’re on the plane, you’re on the team. He didn’t make the plane.” Total bullshit. He never said that to me. He never said anything like it. The entire incident was a fabrication. Bannon and I never spoke about whether or not I would travel to the debate in St. Louis. The only campaign official I discussed that with was Dave Bossie, who fully understood my reasoning and shared it with Trump. Despite my supposed banishment, I remained deeply involved with the team and the candidate. We never missed a beat. Donald had gotten through the fire of a huge crisis—and so had our relationship.

That beach photo

Christie was famously photographed for sitting on the beach with his family, one that was closed to the public during a 2017 state government shutdown.

Christie said he kept working on the budget, traveling back and forth each day between the Statehouse and Island Beach, trying to facilitate an agreement.

On Sunday, July 2, before I headed to Trenton, Mary Pat said to me, “You know, we have all these people out there on the beach, all these friends of our children. Just come out and sit for an hour so they can at least spend some time with you.” I didn’t really feel like it, but I said okay. My wife was asking, and she had a point. I pulled on shorts, a T-shirt, and a baseball cap and walked out to the sand. I settled into a beach chair and spent an hour sitting with my kids and their friends. I was being a husband and a dad, just as I had promised.

It turned out to be a bad decision. Unbeknownst to me, the Star-Ledger had hired a plane to fly over the beach and take pictures of us. It just so happened that they chose the one hour I was sitting out there. Talk about bad luck!

Christie had words with Jared Kushner after President Trump fired FBI Director James Comey

Christie said he was in meetings at Drumthwacket when he learned about the firing. When he came downstairs to leave, his body guy, Dan Robles, told him, “You will not believe what just happened. They just fired Jim Comey.”

“What?” “Yeah,” Robles said. “They fired Comey. In fact, they fired him while he was in Los Angeles. They fired him long-distance.”

“Let’s get out of here,” Christie said.

"We'd been in the car 10 minutes when Jared called, saying, “I want to get your read on what we did.” “I can’t speak to the substance of why you fired him, because I wasn’t read in on the reasons for the firing. I will guarantee you one thing, though. It’s going to cause an enormous shit storm.”

“Respectfully,” Jared said. “I believe you’re wrong about that. The Democrats have said nothing but awful things about Comey. They hate him. So they’re going to be vapor-locked from criticizing the president for firing him. It would be inconsistent with what they’ve said before.”

I had to remind myself, again, that even after the campaign and a few months in Washington, Jared was still new to the ways of the capital. “That would be true,” I told him, “if you were operating in a place where intellectual integrity is treasured. You, however, are working in Washington, DC. And I’m willing to bet you that within fifteen minutes Chuck Schumer is going to have a statement saying the president fired Comey because Comey was getting close to him on the Russia investigation.” “That’s crazy,” Jared said, a position he was able to hold for the next fourteen minutes. “Well, it’s going to happen,” I said. “Governor, we just disagree on that.”

Christie said this was another example of how the president was ill served by poor advice, in this case on the timing and method of firing Comey.

Former President George W. Bush called to support him after Bridgegate press conference.

When the press conference was finally over, Christie said he went back into his office by himself. The phone rang.

“You did a great job today,” Christie said Bush told him.

“Thank you, Mr. President,” Christie said. “I can’t tell you how much it means to me to hear from you.”

“You stood up there,” Bush allegedly said. “You took all the incoming. You did really well.”

“I’m retired. I watched the whole damn thing. You’re my guy. You know that. Don’t you worry about it. I’ve just got one question for you.” “What’s that?” “Did you do it?” I couldn’t believe he was asking me that. “Mr. President,” I said, “I just spent all that time on national television saying I didn’t.” “Yeah, I know,” he said. “Now it’s just me and you, Chris. Remember, I’m the guy who made you US Attorney.” “Mr. President,” I said. “I did not do it.” “Well, then, you’re going to be fine,” he said. “You know, I’ve been through shit storms like this one. As long as you did the right thing."

File photo: pool photo via Getty Images News/Getty Images