Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has been named as a possible candidate for the vacant position of US attorney general now that Jeff Sessions has been removed from the job.
The White House confirmed that Christie was there Thursday and met with Trump adviser Jared Kushner to discuss prison reform, according to a NJ Advance report.
Before being elected governor, Christie practiced law in New Jersey for seven years.
Christie is reportedly a personal friend of Trump's and endorsed him after dropping out of the 2016 presidential campaign himself.
According to NJ Advance, the position of attorney general was one of the only two Christie was willing to give up his governorship for. The other one was, reportedly, vice president.
Back in July 2016, Christie was widely viewed as a contender for Trump's running mate, but Mike Pence got the job instead. Commenting on Trump's pick, Christie said he wanted to finish his term as New Jersey governor. Later, he was viewed as a likely pick for Trump's attorney general, but Sessions was given the job instead, leading to a cascade of "always the bridesmaid, never the bride" memes.
Christie has said on numerous occasions that he believes Trump has been "ill-served" by some of his top advisers; he is also a critic of the special counsel probe into alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. Sessions recused himself from the probe, a decision that rankled the president.
"Immediately following the success of the election, they took all the work that Governor Christie had done and sidelined it and started all over," former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski told NJ Advance in August.
Sessions was ousted as attorney general Wednesday, the day after the US midterm elections. Sessions' chief of staff, Matthew Whitaker, has been named acting attorney general.
