New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie says he never considered resigning because aides shut down traffic leading to the George Washington Bridge.

Christie tells ABC News, “I’m not a quitter.”

He says he won’t decide for another year whether to run for president in 2016, but says the scandal overshadowing his administration won’t influence his decision and will make him a better leader.

Christie’s appearance Thursday comes the day a lawyer he hired released a taxpayer-funded report clearing him of involvement in the political payback plot.

A federal criminal investigation and state legislative probe are continuing.

It’s the first major scandal to hit the Republican governor.

Christie hasn’t held a press conference since early January, when he had to rescind a claim that no staffers were involved in the lane closings.

(AP)