Story highlights Flynn has been a central figure in the controversy surrounding the White House

Christie said Flynn wasn't his "cup of tea"

Washington (CNN) New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said on Monday that if it were up to him, retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn never would have had a White House job.

After ending his own presidential bid in 2016, Christie was one of the first major Republican figures to endorse Donald Trump and served as the head of his transition team before being replaced by Vice President Mike Pence after the election.

"I think it's safe to say that General Flynn and I didn't see eye-to eye," Christie told reporters at a news conference in Trenton, New Jersey. "I didn't think that he was someone who would bring benefit to the President or to the administration, and I made that very clear to candidate Trump, and I made it very clear to President-elect Trump."

Trump fired Flynn as national security adviser less than a month after taking office and 18 days after then-acting Attorney General Sally Yates warned the White House about Flynn's potential vulnerability to Russian blackmail.

Flynn is reportedly the subject of a criminal inquiry, and CNN reported earlier this month that federal prosecutors in Virginia issued grand jury subpoenas to his associates.

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