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Trump
Threatens to Investigate Chris Christie Over ‘Bridgegate’
President
Trump floated the idea after the former governor of New Jersey, a onetime ally,
criticized his use of the Justice Department.
Mike Ives
By Mike
Ives
Aug. 25,
2025
President
Trump on Sunday threatened to investigate former Gov. Chris Christie of New
Jersey over a 2013 political scandal, days after the F.B.I. raided the home and
office of another former Trump official turned critic.
Mr. Trump
made the threat on social media after Mr. Christie said during an appearance on
ABC News that the president “doesn’t care” about maintaining a separation
between his office and criminal investigations.
Mr.
Christie, a Republican who was a federal prosecutor before he was elected
governor, had been discussing Mr. Trump’s connection to recent F.B.I. searches
of the Maryland home and Washington office of John R. Bolton, a national
security adviser in the president’s first term.
The raid
last week of Mr. Bolton’s home and office was an escalation of a yearslong
inquiry into whether he collected or leaked sensitive national security
information. That episode, and Mr. Trump’s threat against Mr. Christie, were
the latest examples of how the president’s campaign of retribution has undercut
the principle that law enforcement should keep a distance from politics.
Mr. Trump
wrote on his Truth Social platform late Sunday that Mr. Christie had lied about
2013 lane closures on the George Washington Bridge “in order to stay out of
prison, at the same time sacrificing people who worked for him.” The president
was referring to a decision by Mr. Christie’s associates to close access lanes
to the bridge, which links New Jersey and Manhattan, in order to punish the
Democratic mayor of a New Jersey town.
“Chris
refused to take responsibility for these criminal acts,” Mr. Trump wrote. “For
the sake of JUSTICE, perhaps we should start looking at that very serious
situation again? NO ONE IS ABOVE THE LAW!”
The 2013
“Bridgegate” closures created days of traffic jams, and the scandal tarnished
Mr. Christie’s reputation and helped to destroy his 2016 presidential
candidacy. Mr. Christie has long denied any knowledge of the plan. He could not
immediately be reached for comment.
Mr. Trump
and Mr. Christie, who have known each other for decades, once had a good
relationship. Mr. Christie initially served as the head of Mr. Trump’s first
presidential transition team, and he helped Mr. Trump with debate preparations
in the run-up to the 2020 election.
But their
relationship soured after Mr. Trump refused to concede the 2020 election to
Joseph R. Biden Jr. When Mr. Christie ran for president again last year, he was
the most vocal Trump critic in the Republican primary field. And members of Mr.
Trump’s family are said never to have warmed to Mr. Christie, who led the
prosecution that resulted in the 2005 conviction of Charles Kushner, the father
of Mr. Trump’s son-in-law and former adviser, Jared Kushner. Mr. Trump pardoned
Mr. Kushner in 2020 and named him ambassador to France this year.
In 2016,
two of Mr. Christie’s associates were convicted of wire fraud and other federal
charges for their roles in the bridge closure, but the Supreme Court
unanimously overturned the convictions four years later. Mr. Trump said at the
time that the court’s decision was a “complete and total exoneration” of Mr.
Christie, who was not charged in the case, “and all others involved.”
It was
not immediately clear what aspect of Mr. Christie’s Sunday appearance on ABC’s
“This Week” had led Mr. Trump to threaten him on social media.
Mr.
Christie mentioned the president by name after he was asked by the journalist
Jonathan Karl whether Vice President JD Vance, who has defended the criminal
investigation into Mr. Bolton, is playing a role in it.
Mr.
Christie responded by mentioning what he called the administration’s disregard
for the idea of separation between the president and criminal investigations.
He noted that Mr. Trump had recently described himself as the nation’s “chief
law enforcement officer.”
“Donald
Trump sees himself as the person who gets to decide everything, and he doesn’t
care about any separation,” Mr. Christie told Mr. Karl. “In fact, he absolutely
rejects the idea that there should be separation between criminal
investigations and the politically elected leader of the United States. This is
much different than it’s ever been run before.”
He said
Mr. Trump had telegraphed this approach during his 2024 presidential campaign.
“He told
you he was going to do this, that he was going to have a Justice Department
that acted as his personal legal representation, and that is what they’re
doing,” Mr. Christie said.
The
search of Mr. Bolton’s Maryland home and Washington office came days after Mr.
Trump attacked him for criticizing his approach to Russia’s invasion in
Ukraine. Mr. Bolton was pushed out of the first Trump administration in 2019,
after he disagreed with the president on several foreign policy challenges.
Mike Ives
is a reporter for The Times based in Seoul, covering breaking news around the
world.
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