Christie speaks out on Russia and transit repairs in first public remarks since shutdown

Making his first public appearance since lifting the state’s government shutdown earlier this month, Gov. Chris Christie spent 45 minutes Monday weighing in on a range of national and state issues that included Donald Trump Jr.’s meeting with Russians last year and the so-called “Summer of Hell” repairs at Pennsylvania Station. 

Christie arrived by helicopter in Somerset County for a late-morning news conference to announce a local transportation project, having spent the weekend at Island Beach State Park — where he drew criticism for spending his time off during the government shutdown while the park was closed to the public.

There was no such controversy this time, although Christie defended his use of the taxpayer-funded State Police helicopter, saying it is a safer and more efficient way for him to travel long distances. 

Donald Trump Jr. and Russia

On the unfurling narrative last week of a June 2016 meeting between President Donald Trump's son and a Russian businessman, Christie said that "none of it's positive."

The meeting had been set up by a former business partner promising incriminating information on Hillary Clinton, Trump's eventual opponent in the presidential election. Donald Trump Jr. replied in an email: "If it’s what you say I love it," and he, brother-in-law Jared Kushner and then-campaign manager Paul Manafort eventually met with the Russians. There has been no indication that the opposition research that was originally offered was produced at the meeting. 

Christie said he has been bothered by the quick conclusions people have drawn about the campaign's connection with Russia when no formal determinations have been made in the ongoing investigation.

"What you need to get to is ultimately what was discussed. My understanding of all this is that there’s concern by some people of collusion. Even from what we’ve heard so far, I don’t see any evidence of that," Christie said. "And so we need to get back to what the bottom line here is, which is if there’s collusion, that’s a major issue. If there isn’t, then I don’t think it is." 

Asked whether it’s inappropriate to receive opposition research from a foreign government, Christie said: “I think it would be. I don’t think there’s any evidence that they did, but I do think it would be, sure. And I think, quite frankly, that’s probably against the law." 

Opioid panel

Christie also faced questions about his role leading a national panel focused on combating opioid abuse and two missed deadlines for it to issue an interim report. Christie said he requested two extensions because the panel received 8,000 public comments after its first public meeting last month. 

"I did not think it was appropriate not to review all of those public comments and to the extent necessary address some of them in the interim report," Christie said, adding that he is reviewing a draft of the report and that it will be ready at the commission's next meeting, which is scheduled for July 31. 

"Summer of Hell"

And after a relatively smooth first week of major repairs at Penn Station, Christie praised NJ Transit for minimizing the pain for commuters. The scheduled work, which is expected to last another seven weeks, prompted New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo to dub it the "Summer of Hell" for commuters. 

Christie is not a fan of the phrasing.

"You know, I’m going to smack him for the 'Summer of Hell' comment. We should be more disciplined than that. But nonetheless, Andrew made the comment, so we’ve got to live with it," Christie said. "But the fact is that I think the first week went well and I think New Jersey Transit deserves a lot of credit for that."

He added: "While none of it’s fun, it’s certainly not nearly as bad as people predicted it would be — so far. Now, it’s one week. We’ve got seven weeks to go, so I’m not sitting here doing a victory lap."