Jared Kushner denies in an interview published by Forbes on Tuesday that he was behind the decision to replace New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie as head of President-elect Donald Trump's transition team.
"The media has speculated on a lot of different things. And since I don't talk to the press, they go as they go, but I was not behind pushing out [Christie] or his people," Trump's son-in-law said.
Kushner insisted that "Six months ago Gov. Christie and I decided this election was much bigger than any differences we may have had in the past, and we worked very well together."
Politico reported last week that Kushner's influence with Trump was the determining factor in Vice President-elect Mike Pence replacing Christie as head of the transition team — Christie prosecuted and convicted Kushner's father for tax evasion, illegal campaign donations, and witness tampering during the New Jersey governor's time as U.S. attorney for the district of New Jersey a decade ago.
Kushner, who is married to Trump's daughter Ivanka, has dramatically risen to prominence in the president-elect's inner circle over the course of the 2016 campaign.
USA Today reports that Kushner was also decisive in the decision to name Pence as Trump's running mate instead of Christie, who was being strongly considered for the role.
Kushner told The Real Deal two years ago about the tremendous impact of his father going to jail and that his dream of becoming a prosecutor changed because of it.
"My dad's arrest made me realize I didn't want to be a prosecutor anymore," Kushner said. "The law is so nuanced. If you're convicting murderers, it's one thing. It's often fairly clear. When you get into things like white-collar crime, there are often a lot of nuances. Seeing my father's situation, I felt what happened was obviously unjust in terms of the way they pursued him. I just never wanted to be on the other side of that and cause pain to the families I was doing that to, whether right or wrong. The moral weight of that was probably a bit more than I could carry."
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