Christie doesn’t comment on torture report

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) refused to state his position when asked about the CIA interrogation report Wednesday.

“All I’ve seen, unfortunately, at this point, is some of the reporting from your newspaper, so I don’t think it would be responsible to comment based only on that,” he told The New York Times.

“I’ll take some time to look at it. I don’t know about all of it. But I’ll take some time to get briefed on it, for sure,” he said.

The report, put together by Senate Democrats, found that the CIA’s tactics sometimes constituted torture and were ineffective.

As a likely candidate for president in 2016, Christie has been facing more questions on national and foreign issues in recent months.

Last week, he traveled to Canada, where he delivered an endorsement of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline. He also said that he felt that he was becoming a more mature leader through his foreign travel.

But on other issues, he has received mixed reviews from members of his own party.

While was speaking privately to a group of activists, he was asked how he would have handled the Russian invasion of Crimea differently than President Obama.

“I don’t believe, given who I am, that he would make the same judgment,” Christie said, according to the Times. “Let’s leave it at that.”

Activists told the newspaper that they felt his answer was light on facts, and one said it was difficult to watch.

Christie also said he will not state a position on immigration unless he runs for president.

Other potential 2016 contenders from the GOP have spoken up on the CIA report.

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said that “[t]hose who served us in aftermath of 9/11 deserve our thanks, not [a] one-sided partisan Senate report that now places American lives in danger.”

Another conservative senator with White House aspirations, Ted Cruz (R-Texas), also harshly condemned the report.

“Every civilized nation agrees that torture is wrong,” he said. “But today’s partisan report will endanger lives, drive away our allies — who have never been more needed than now — and undermine the ability of our intelligence officers and soldiers to protect our national security.”