Former Gov. Chris Christie dismissed a request by President Donald Trump to make a friendly call to then-FBI Director James Comey, who had opened an investigation into possible collusion with Russia, as "nonsensical" and he later advised Trump not to fire special counsel Robert Mueller, according to the special counsel's report.

The long-awaited report, released with redactions Thursday, gives new insight into the relationship between Trump and Christie at a time when Christie was still governor of New Jersey and the Russia investigation was developing into a political crisis for the president.

At each stage of the Russia investigation — from Comey's firing to the naming of Mueller as the special counsel — Christie was there as a sort of sounding board for Trump. And he occupied a unique role in the president's inner circle, having worked in the Justice Department with Mueller and Comey while also being one of Trump's longtime friends and political supporters.

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The Comey request by Trump came during a Valentine's Day lunch with Christie and his wife, Mary Pat, and others. That lunch date made headlines at the time because Trump had ordered for Christie — meatloaf — but the report provides new details about the conversation inside the White House.

A day earlier, Trump had fired Michael Flynn as his national security adviser for lying about his contact with the Russian ambassador. The FBI, led by Comey, had been investigating potential Russian ties to the Trump campaign and his associates.

During the February 2017 lunch, Trump told Christie that since he'd fired Flynn, "the Russia thing is over," according to Mueller's report.

"No way," Christie said, according to the report. "This Russia thing is far from over."

That discussion is also consistent with what Christie wrote in his book, "Let Me Finish," released earlier this year.

The Mueller report added that Christie told Trump that Flynn was "like gum on the bottom of your shoe," the report said.

The report's references to Christie were drawn on by what's known as a "302," an FBI document that summarizes an agent's interview with a subject. Christie's interview appears in the report to have been done on Feb. 13, 2019.

Consistent with what Christie has said in public, he told Trump that there was no way to make an investigation shorter but many ways to make one longer. He advised Trump not to talk about the investigation even if he was frustrated at times.

Toward the end of the lunch, Trump asked Christie, who as U.S. attorney for New Jersey had worked with Comey, if the two were still friendly. Christie said they were.

Trump then told Christie to call Comey and tell him that the president "really like[s] him. Tell him he's part of the team." He repeated that request at the end of the lunch.

But Christie had no intention of complying with Trump's request, the report said.

"He thought the President's request was 'nonsensical' and Christie did not want to put Comey in the position of having to receive such a phone call," the report said. "Christie thought it would have been uncomfortable to pass on that message."

Trump fired Comey three months later, in May 2017, but he offered differing reasons for doing so. His first explanation was that Comey had mishandled an investigation into 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server. He later said he fired Comey because of "this Russia thing with Trump."

The firing of Comey was supported by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who had written a memo in May 2017 recommending his dismissal as FBI director.

Unhappy with press coverage of the Comey firing, Trump called Christie, according to the report. Trump told Christie he was getting "killed" in the press over the firing and asked what he should do.

"Did you fire [Comey] because of what Rod wrote in the memo?" Christie said, according to the report.

Trump responded that he had, and Christie said Trump should "get Rod out there" and have him defend the decision, according to the report. Trump told Christie that was a "good idea," the report said.

Days later, Rosenstein appointed Mueller, a former FBI director, as the special counsel leading the investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.

Throughout the investigation, Trump portrayed Mueller's investigation as a "witch hunt" led by partisans. And Mueller's report shows the extent to which Trump went to end the investigation.

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In June 2017, Trump called his White House counsel at the time, Don McGahn, and "directed him to have the special counsel removed," according to the report. McGahn refused.

Around the same time, the report said, Christie spoke with Trump on the phone and Trump "asked what Christie thought about the president firing the special counsel," the report said.

"Christie advised against doing so because there was no substantive basis for the president to fire the special counsel, and because the president would lose support from Republicans in Congress if he did so," the report said.

Although Mueller did not conclude that Trump committed the crime of obstruction of justice — Attorney General William Barr said he did not — the report said that firing the special counsel "would qualify as an obstructive act."