August 17, 2016
It's no secret that Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie are close, but one new report speculates that the two may have been close enough to work out a deal that saved Trump from paying millions of dollars in overdue taxes from his casinos.
The New York Times reveals that just a year after Christie took office, New Jersey changed its tone from accusing Trump and his company of filing false tax reports and chasing after an accrued $30 million to talking about settlement offers.
After six years in court, The Times revealed that New Jersey took in just $5 million. Three years later, Christie also introduced a statewide program that lightened penalties for delinquent taxpayers if they were caught up on other overdue payments.
The information comes at a time when Trump's refusal to release his personal income taxes raises some serious eyebrows and why it might be even more surprising to some that Trump didn't pick Christie – he once called Trump a "loyal friend" – for a running mate.
Christie still spoke at the Republican National Convention in July, however, and is expected to show at Trump's first intelligence briefing in New York on Wednesday.
As they are close, the two are also no strangers to controversy. As of late, there's Trump's attack on the parents of a fallen Muslim Army captain, and Christie's Bridgegate scandal hasn't fallen far from memory, either.
Though it's not clear what role Christie will play in Trump's campaign, the Republican nominee has already started to announce his leadership picks.
As a reminder, Oct. 11 is the last day to register to vote in Pennsylvania for the Nov. 8 general election.
