Christie to Pay for Chopper Use

Politico reports:

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie corrected course Thursday, saying he would reimburse the state for use of its helicopter amid a growing outcry from Democrats that he was misusing the vehicle to travel to his son’s baseball game.

It’s the rare instance of Christie giving in to his critics, and comes at a time when a growing number of Republicans are hoping to lure him into the 2012 presidential sweepstakes.

His office also revealed the entire list of 33 flights — far fewer than predecessors, it said — that Christie has taken using the helicopter in his 18 months in office. The office also said there were, in fact, two trips to his son’s ballgames within the past week.

“I was dealing with the realities of my life,” Christie told reporters at a press conference Thursday afternoon.

He said he was dealing with juggling his role as father-of-four with his job as governor 24 hours a day.

“I use (the helicopter) very, very sparingly and when my scheduling people tell me there’s no other way to do what we want to do,” Christie said. “I could have made the decision not to go at all. I decided it was important for me to go and see my son.”

Christie is not making all of the reimbursements out of his own pocket. The state Republican Party forked over $1,232.29 for Tuesday’s chopper trip from his son’s ballgame to Princeton, where he met with a group of high-powered Iowa donors looking to convince him to run in the Republican presidential primary, the Newark Star-Ledger reported.