Chris Christie: Trump Wanted to Keep Documents 'As a Trophy'
(Newsmax/"John Bachman Now")
By Sandy Fitzgerald | Sunday, 16 October 2022 10:51 PM EDT
Former President Donald Trump wanted to keep classified documents "as a trophy" after leaving the White House, not for leverage, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said Sunday.
"He wanted to keep these documents as a trophy. That's what they were, more than anything," Christie, a former Trump adviser who is now a contributor for ABC News, said on the network's "This Week," while discussing the documents and other items the FBI seized at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in August, reports The Hill.
However, while there have been suggestions that Trump kept the documents to use as leverage against others, Christie said he doesn't think that's true.
"I think it's much more likely they're a trophy that he walks around and says, 'Look, I've got this. I’ve got this classified document or that,' because remember, he can't believe he's not president," Christie said.
Further, Trump can't believe he doesn't still get classified documents, so "he needs to display to everybody down at Mar-a-Lago or up in Bedminster during the summer he still has some of those trappings," said Christie. "The replica Resolute Desk in Mar-a-Lago and all the rest of those things are things that are assuaging, you know, his disappointment and his disbelief that he's not the president anymore."
Trump argues that some of the documents that were seized are protected by attorney-client privilege, and says he declassified the materials before he took them to Mar-a-Lago.