Christie Says Romney Embarrassed by VP Vetting Leak

A new book called Double Down discloses information about the Romney campaign's vetting process for Chris Christie in a huge protocol breach

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Mitt Romney campaigns with Chris Christie in Ohio in 2012

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie says that former presidential candidate Mitt Romney called him immediately after information leaked in the new book Double Down surrounding the Romney camp’s vetting of Christie for a potential vice presidential candidate. “Mitt called me right away, and I could tell he was really embarrassed and outraged about it,” Christie said Tuesday in a CNN interview. “[The leaks were] very disappointing. I think it’s a complete violation of trust of me and the spirit within which I entered that process.”

Double Down (by TIME’s Mark Halperin and New York Magazine’s John Heilemann, authors of Game Change) covers the 2012 presidential election and contains scandalous tidbits about Romney’s vetting of Christie. The book says that Romney aides resented Christie for the way he worked with President Obama after Superstorm Sandy. One of those aides told the authors of the book  that Romney’s vetters had concerns about Christie’s health and weight; the source also leaked that Christie was once investigated by the Justice Department for exceeding governmental travel expense rates when working as a Federal Prosecutor in New Jersey. The vetting process is meant to be discreet, and the leak was a breach in protocol.

Christie is expected to win reelection Tuesday.

[CNN]