Corey Lewandowski: Donald Trump Campaign Manager Won’t Face Criminal Charges For Battery
Corey Lewandowski will not face criminal charges for an incident in which he appeared to grab a female reporter, according to multiple sources close to the investigation, the New York Times is reporting.
The Palm Beach County state attorney will hold a news conference Thursday afternoon. As of this writing, the subject matter of the press conference has been kept under wraps, but sources with knowledge of the case say that it will be to announce that battery charges against Corey Lewandowski will be dropped.
As previously reported by the Inquisitr, on March 8, at a Trump rally in Jupiter, Florida, Lewandowski was captured on video appearing to rough up a female reporter.
In the video, Lewandowski appears to grab the woman by the arm and then forcibly pull her.
The woman Lewandowski allegedly roughed up is Michelle Fields, at the time a reporter for conservative news site Breitbart. Fields claims that Lewandowski manhandled her after she tried to ask Trump a question. Fields later resigned from Breitbart.
Michelle Fields slams Fox News star as Trump ‘shill’ https://t.co/452p2zfcvV pic.twitter.com/1by0T3Up94
— Fury News Network (@FuryNewsNetwork) April 14, 2016
In the aftermath of the Fields incident, both Lewandowski and his boss, Donald Trump, tried to downplay the altercation. Lewandowski called Fields “delusional” and insisted that he had never touched her.
On March 29, Jupiter police officially charged Lewandowski with simple battery, a misdemeanor, and gave him a notice to appear in court on May 4.
Trump, for his part, insisted that nothing happened and suggested that Fields was making up her injuries.
“How do you know those bruises weren’t there before?”
Later, Trump insisted that the incident was overblown and vowed to stand by Lewandowski, whom he believed would be eventually exonerated.
“I’m not going to let a person’s life be destroyed. No jury, in my opinion, would convict a man and destroy a man’s life over what you witnessed.”
It’s not specifically clear, as of this writing, why Palm Beach County intends to drop the charges against Mr. Lewandowski. However, earlier this month Dave Aronberg, a spokesman for the Palm Beach County Prosecutor’s Office, told Politico that convincing a jury that battery has taken place is harder than convincing police to file charges, a vague hint that he might not be following through with prosecution.
Aronberg, a Democrat, has gotten his share of attention for his role in the Lewandowski affair, according to an April 8 Politico interview. Trump supporters were outraged that the possibility of prosecuting Lewandowski existed at all and took to social media to express their displeasure. One Twitter user, before his account was deleted, even posted Aronberg’s home address, his wife’s name, and used an antisemitic insult before saying that “someone” was heading to his house.
Aronberg, however, didn’t seem phased by the hostility.
“I’ve obviously had more attention on this matter than anything else I’ve done. But as far as hostility, it’s part of the job. You’re going to get hostility. Even when you’re dealing with smaller cases, you’re going to get some of the same hostility. The difference is the amount, the scope of it. But as far as nasty emails and messages, that comes with the territory.”
Michelle Fields, for her part, has publicly stated that she intends to file a lawsuit against both Trump and Lewandowski, for defamation of her character, according to the Blaze. She also claims that she has been subject to death threats and has been forced to flee her apartment since the Lewandowski incident.
Do you believe Corey Lewandowski should be prosecuted for his altercation with Michelle Fields? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
[Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images]
