215 lunch at the White House with New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. According to Christie, at one point during the lunch the President said, “Now 216 that we fired Flynn, the Russia thing is over.” Christie laughed and 217 responded, “No way.” He said, “this Russia thing is far from over” and 218 “[w]e’ll be here on Valentine’s Day 2018 talking about this.” The President said, “[w]hat do you mean? Flynn met with the Russians. That was the problem. 219 I fired Flynn. It’s over.” Christie recalled responding that based on his experience both as a prosecutor and as someone who had been investigated, 220 firing Flynn would not end the investigation. Christie said there was no way 221 to make an investigation shorter, but a lot of ways to make it longer. The President asked Christie what he meant, and Christie told the President not to 222 talk about the investigation even if he was frustrated at times. Christie also told the President that he would never be able to get rid of Flynn, “like gum on 223 the bottom of your shoe.” Towards the end of the lunch, the President brought up Comey and asked if 224 225 Christie was still friendly with him. Christie said he was. The President told Christie to call Comey and tell him that the President “really like[s] him. 226 Tell him he’s part of the team.” At the end of the lunch, the President 227 repeated his request that Christie reach out to Comey. Christie had no 228 intention of complying with the President’s request that he contact Comey. He thought the President’s request was “nonsensical” and Christie did not want 229 to put Comey in the position of having to receive such a phone call. Christie 230 thought it would have been uncomfortable to pass on that message. At 4 p.m. that afternoon, the President met with Comey, Sessions, and other 231 officials for a homeland security briefing. At the end of the briefing, the President dismissed the other attendees and stated that he wanted to speak to 232 Comey alone. Sessions and senior advisor to the President Jared Kushner remained in the Oval Office as other participants left, but the President excused 233 them, repeating that he wanted to speak only with Comey. At some point after others had left the Oval Office, Priebus opened the door, but the President 234 sent him away.