Christie: Trump's talk with Comey is ‘normal New York City' conversation

President Donald Trump’s discussions with former FBI Director James Comey about the ongoing Russia probe are just “normal New York City" conversation, according to New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.

In an appearance on MSNBC on Wednesday afternoon, Christie defended Trump’s past conversations with Comey, which will be the subject of a high-stakes Senate Intelligence hearing on Thursday in which Comey is the star witness. The panel released a statement from Comey hours earlier in which the ousted director details how Trump allegedly pressured him on multiple occasions to ease off the FBI's probe into possible collusion between Trump's campaign and Russian officials.


“What people don’t understand is that they elected an outsider president,” Christie said. “They elected someone who had never been inside government … so, I think over the course of time, we can talk about different examples, what you’re seeing is a president who is now very publicly learning about the way people react to what he considers to be normal New York City.”

Christie was one of the first people to support Trump in his campaign last year after bowing out of the 2016 race himself. He briefly led the Trump transition team and was a possible candidate to be nominated for attorney general due to his experience as a federal prosecutor.

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In the statement, Comey says Trump told him during a private meeting that “I need loyalty, I expect loyalty,” and expressed his frustrations with the investigations surrounding his young presidency.

Trump asked Comey in various meetings what the FBI director could do to “lift the cloud” surrounding the Russia investigation, as well as if he could say publicly that the president was not under investigation.

When asked if he believes Comey’s statement, Christie said, “Hard to tell.”

“I want to hear Jim say it,” the governor said. “I've gotten along well with him over the years, we worked together. I have a lot of respect for Jim. I'm not going to presume anybody is lying. Quite frankly, these conversations everybody wants to hear what they want to hear.”

Christie also praised Trump’s pick to replace Comey, Christopher Wray. Wray is a lawyer who defended Christie during his Bridgegate scandal.