Story highlights Christie defended Trump's firing of Comey

Christie denied speculation that he may be vying for the now-open FBI director role

Washington (CNN) New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie fiercely defended on Wednesday President Donald Trump's right to fire FBI Director James Comey and argued that reports of a bombshell Comey memo on Trump were "speculation."

Christie, a longtime Trump ally, was speaking the day after reports broke that Trump had asked Comey to drop an FBI investigation looking into his former national security adviser Michael Flynn's ties to Russia. The controversy has raised questions about whether Trump obstructed justice.

Speaking at a NJ Transit facility, Christie at first told reporters he would not comment on events in Washington that he's "not involved in."

Following some prodding, however, Christie defended Trump's actions to fire Comey.

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"I think the President has been underserved by his staff. I think I've said that two or three times, but the fact is that what I do know as someone who has run two pretty large operations is that those decisions need to be made by the executive," Christie said. "Only the person who is being served day-to-day knows for sure how well they are served and knows any perception of success or lack of success."

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