You need to tell the American people the truth about what happened here,”

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said about the White House's lack of transparency surrounding security clearances. | AP Photo/Ron Jenkins White House Christie: Trump family's lack of honesty about security clearances is 'not defensible'

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 with 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 Trump and her husband'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.’”

Playbook PM Sign up for our must-read newsletter on what's driving the afternoon in Washington. Email Sign Up By signing up you agree to receive email newsletters or alerts from POLITICO. You can unsubscribe at any time. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

In an interview with the Times earlier this year, the president unambiguously denied intervening in the clearance process on behalf of his son-in-law. And just last month, Ivanka Trump did the same, telling “The View” co-host Abby Huntsman that her father had “zero” involvement in the clearance process for the couple.

A spokesperson for Kushner's lawyer pleaded ignorance to the claims in the Times report, arguing last week that when Kushner finally received his clearance, "White House and security clearance officials affirmed that Mr. Kushner’s security clearance was handled in the regular process with no pressure from anyone." They asserted that "new stories, if accurate, do not change what was affirmed at the time."

Christie said Thursday the discrepancies exposed by the Times story would end up causing the president more political trouble down the road but in the meantime, he bemoaned the squeeze Trump’s opaqueness put on his surrogates.

“For those of us who are out here at times defending the president and what goes on, moments like what happened Thursday night when that New York Times story broke make it very, very difficult, because you can't defend that,” he said. “Now, some people try to defend it. I won't try to defend it. It's not defensible. You need to tell the American people the truth about what happened here.”

