Christie: Reports of staffer's pro-Russia ties won't hurt Trump
TRENTON - Gov. Christie on Tuesday brushed aside reports of ties between Donald Trump's campaign chairman and a pro-Russia political party in Ukraine, saying the issue doesn't reflect on the GOP presidential candidate.
TRENTON - Gov. Christie on Tuesday brushed aside reports of ties between Donald Trump's campaign chairman and a pro-Russia political party in Ukraine, saying the issue doesn't reflect on the GOP presidential candidate.
At a Statehouse news conference, the governor, a top Trump backer, also dismissed the idea that the candidate's prediction of a "rigged" election was dangerous, and said that despite Trump's trailing poll numbers, he wasn't worried that Trump's chances of winning in November were dwindling.
"It's Aug. 16," Christie said. "We're all consumed with this right now, but most of America is not."
The governor declined to comment on whether he would attend a national security briefing for Trump on Wednesday in New York. ABC News, citing sources, reported that Christie was scheduled to attend Trump's first briefing.
Christie questioned the credibility of a New York Times story Monday detailing Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort's connection to an investigation by Ukraine's newly formed National Anti-Corruption Bureau.
Bureau officials - probing "a corrupt network they say was used to loot Ukrainian assets and influence elections," according to the Times - said $12.7 million in cash payments was designated for Manafort between 2007 and 2012 from the party of former Ukrainian President Viktor F. Yanukovych, for whom Manafort was a consultant.
Other news outlets also reported on the probe by Ukrainian investigators, though Christie said Tuesday that "all I know about this are allegations that were made in a front-page New York Times story."
"Having been the subject of a number of front-page New York Times stories, I look at it at least with a healthy skepticism," said Christie, who is Trump's transition team chairman. "I don't think this reflects on Donald at all."
Manafort's lawyer told the Times that his client had not accepted cash payments and disputed a former Ukrainian official's suggestion that Manafort might have been involved in illegal activity.
Asked Tuesday about Trump's comments about the election system being "rigged," Christie said that "I think the American people in the main have faith in the efficacy of our election system."
"The problem is, you have so many arguments about simple things, like showing ID when you vote," he said, creating "some concern that the election system is not as fair as it should be."
Christie said he was "confident" that not only in New Jersey, but in "all the other 49 states," people "are voting that are not supposed to be voting."
While Trump has been lagging in polls - including in states like Pennsylvania, where he trailed Hillary Clinton by nine points in an average of recent surveys - Christie said he was "confident this will be a competitive race."
"I won't be concerned, if I ever am concerned, about Donald's campaign" until after the first presidential debate in September, he said.
Christie also said he didn't take it personally that one of his former top aides, Maria Comella, had announced her support for Clinton.
"Everyone has a right to their own opinion," Christie said. Earlier this month, Comella told CNN that Trump was a "demagogue" and that the GOP had to speak up against him to preserve the party's future.
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