Donald Trump has hired Bill Stepien, a former senior staffer for Republican New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who was kicked to the curb during the Bridgegate scandal.
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Stepien had been an integral player to Christie’s national stardom and was set to advise the Republican Governors Association and chart Christie’s own path to the White House. Christie said in the January news conference that he had “lost confidence in Bill’s judgement” because those emails showed Stepien referring to Fort Lee’s mayor as “an idiot”. “You can not have someone at the top of your political operation who you do not have confidence in”, he continued.
GOP operative Bill Stepien is expected to help Trump coordinate voter turnout in the run-up to the November 8 election, NBC News reported.
Though Christie is serving as the chief of Trump’s transition team, the New York Times reported that the governor was not involved in the hiring decision and is no longer close with Stepien.
Trailing his rival in the polls, Trump is facing an uphill battle to the White House, and while Hillary Clinton boasts a campaign staff of hundreds, the NY billionaire has struggled to build an extensive on-the-ground campaign operation. ABC also reported the news on Twitter.
“Roger Stone, who serves as an “informal adviser” to the Trump campaign, told the Times that “[Stepien]’s a real professional and has the kind of contacts and experience the campaign could really use”.
Christie claimed at the time that Stepien misled him about what had happened with the bridge lane shutdown in Fort Lee, calling him “deceitful.” He also served as deputy chief of staff for intergovernmental affairs during Christie’s first term.
Before his dismissal, Stepien had been widely expected to run Christie’s 2016 presidential campaign. Two other Christie associates have been charged or pleaded guilty in the trial, scheduled to open September 19.
There are many campaign titles that are fuzzy and potentially meaningless.
Christie’s landslide reelection in a blue state initially positioned him as a front-runner for the GOP presidential nomination, but he never fully recovered from the bridge scandal that engulfed his administration a couple months later.
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Trump said during the primary campaign last December that Christie “totally knew” about the lane closures. He joins Matt Mowers and Richard Bagger as former Christie aides now working for Trump.
