One of the big scoops in Double Down, the new campaign book by Mark Halperin and John Heilemann, is the Romney campaign’s file on Governor Chris Christie, who was a leading contender for the vice-presidential nomination:
After 11 days of teeth-gnashing labor, several of the issues that the vetters had unearthed around Christie were still unresolved. Myers and her team were sticklers. Uncomfortable producing a final report they considered incomplete, they made a point of being meticulous about framing and flagging the problems, including a refrain in bold applied to a number of items.
On Todd Christie’s securities-fraud settlement: “[Governor] Christie has been asked to disclose whether Todd Christie incurred any monetary or other penalty as a result of the SEC/NYSE action. If Christie’s possible selection is to move forward, this item should be obtained.” On Christie’s defamation lawsuit: “Christie has been asked to provide the terms of the settlement of this matter. If Christie’s possible selection is to move forward, this item should be obtained.” On Christie’s household help: “Christie has been asked to provide the names and documented status of all domestic employees. This material has not been received. If Christie’s possible selection is to move forward, these items should be obtained.” On Christie’s lobbying clients: “Christie has provided only one of the twelve or so [public disclosure] filings made [in the time he was a lobbyist] … If Christie’s possible selection is to move forward, these items should be obtained.”
On Sunday, Christie responded to the Halperin-Heilemann report on ABC’s This Week. “All of these issues have been vetted,” he said. “If I ever run for anything again, they’ll be vetted again. If you’re in public life, that’s what you have to understand. Listen to Governor Romney. What Governor Romney said when he spoke last week was that none of this caused him any pause at all. So I’ll take Mitt Romney’s interpretation of all this rather than some paid political consultant who was, obviously, trying to make himself famous in the book.”
In a CNN interview last week, Christie mentioned that Romney called him to apologize for the leak. ”Mitt called me right away, and I could tell he was really embarrassed,” Christie said, in a sitdown with Jake Tapper.
There is more about the Christie file here.