Chris Christie says Trump deserved to be indicted and is misleading his supporters: 'He's a liar and a coward'

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie told CNN Trump is lying to supporters about his indictment.

Christie, who is running for president, had a falling out with Trump after the 2020 election.

On Sunday, he accused his former ally of being a "liar and a coward."

Get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in business, from Wall Street to Silicon Valley — delivered daily. Loading Something is loading. Thanks for signing up! Access your favorite topics in a personalized feed while you're on the go. download the app Email address By clicking ‘Sign up’, you agree to receive marketing emails from Insider as well as other partner offers and accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Former Trump ally Chris Christie blasted his one-time boss on Sunday, telling CNN that the frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination is a "liar and a coward" who stole classified national security information.

At a rally last month, former President Donald Trump claimed that his indictment for illegally retaining classified information was a "great badge of honor." The charges, he assured supporters, are "fake" and just an excuse to take him down: "Essentially, I'm being indicted for you."

Christie, former New Jersey governor who is challenging Trump for the 2024 nomination, said the ex-president's claim is absurd and that he has, in fact, been indicted "because of his outrageous conduct."

Speaking to CNN's Jake Tapper, Christie argued that no other American had "illegally retained classified national secrets after being asked — politely, quietly, and professionally for 18 months — to voluntarily turn them back over after he left the White House."

And no other American, he continued, "lied to their own lawyers about where those documents were" or who "flashed around documents regarding an Iranian war plan to people who didn't have clearance to see them."

In last month's indictment, prosecutor Jack Smith accused Trump of not only illegally retaining dozens of national security documents, but also obstructing the federal government's efforts to get them back. It accuses Trump, in particular, of misleading his own counsel by falsely representing to them that he was returning any classified information.

The indictment also states that Trump showed off a classified US contingency plan for a war with Iran to people working on a book for Mark Meadows, his former chief of staff. Trump, who previously denied sharing any such document, can be heard in an audio recording obtained by prosecutors — and later published by CNN — explicitly referring to the document, saying: "This was done by the military and given to me.... as president I could have declassified it. Now I can't, you know, but this is still secret."

Christie noted that Trump is now seeking to delay his trial over the matter until after the 2024 election.

"I don't think he's doing that for us, either," Christie said. "He should resolve this thing before people vote so that we know exactly who we're voting for to put behind the desk in the Oval Office."

Have a news tip? Email this reporter: [email protected]