Chris Christie Defends FBI’s Mar-a-Lago Search As ‘Fair Game’

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) became one of the few Republicans to label the FBI’s Monday night search of Donald Trump‘s Mar-a-Lago residence “fair game.”

“You just have to display probable cause to a federal judge that … there are contents in that safe that would assist in proving a violation of the law,” Christie told Sirius XM’s, Julie Mason.

“It’s not anything that’s out of bounds to go into a safe, and it happens frequently in federal law enforcement,” the former federal prosecutor added. “But again, you have to have the factual underpinnings to be able to convince a federal judge that you need and have the right to do that.”

Christie is also considering a White House bid in 2024, which would likely pit him against Trump who he has allied himself with in the past. However, neither has formally announced a run for the presidency at this time.

Christie also noted that though he believes the FBI had the right to search Trump’s Palm Beach, Florida residence according to the information given, but he does have “concerns” about the “unprecedented” actions and said that officials need to release more information before people formulate opinions.

In February, the National Archives called on the Justice Department to look into the potential mishandling of classified White House documents by Trump to see if he violated the law after finding that 15 boxes of classified White House records had been taken to his Florida estate. Under the Presidential Records Act, presidents are required to preserve and turn in all memos, letters, emails and papers that they touched to the National Archives at the end of their term.