Trump comes to financial rescue for Christie, state GOP

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump is helping dig former rival Chris Christie and the New Jersey Republican Party out of big debt they incurred from the George Washington Bridge scandal and the governor's presidential campaign.

Trump on Thursday will attend a $25,000-per-person fundraiser for the state GOP to help it pay off about $500,000 incurred in legal fees responding to legislative subpoenas in the bridge scandal.

The hand-in-hand fund raising help is a sharp turnabout from five months ago, when Trump accused Christie of "totally" knowing that some of his allies had shut down access lanes to bridge to retaliate against a Democratic mayor who wouldn't support Christie's re-election, as prosecutors allege.

Christie has since folded his presidential campaign and taken the big political risk of endorsing Trump, and the billionaire has tapped the governor to head his White House transition team.

Trump is coming to New Jersey as the bridge scandal is in headlines again this week after a federal appeals court delayed the release of a list of unindicted co-conspirators in the scheme sought by media organizations, including The Associated Press.