Trump Campaign Manager Corey Lewandowski Charged With Simple Battery for Grabbing Michelle Fields

Donald Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski has been charged with simple battery in Jupiter, Fla. for a March 8 incident in which Lewandowski was accused of grabbing and pulling back then-Breitbart News reporter Michelle Fields as she tried to ask Donald Trump a question during a campaign event. Lewandowski and the Trump campaign have vociferously denied Lewandowski's involvement, to the point that Lewandowski tweeted the following at Fields: @MichelleFields you are totally delusional. I never touched you. As a matter of fact, I have never even met you. — Corey Lewandowski (@CLewandowski_) March 11, 2016 So it may not be all that surprising that even the campaign's response to Lewandowski's arrest depicted a version of the world as seen through the Trump filter. It was noteworthy enough, however, for Post reporters Callum Borchers, Karen Tumulty and Wesley Lowery to not allow the response to stand as a mere transcription: In a brazen display of dishonesty, the Trump campaign issued a statement insisting that Lewandowski actually "was not arrested" — despite a police report distributed to news outlets that listed his arrest at 8:10 a.m. "Mr. Lewandowski is absolutely innocent of this charge," the campaign statement said. "He will enter a plea of not guilty and looks forward to his day in court. He is completely confident that he will be exonerated." A spokesman for the Jupiter Police Department clarified that Lewandowski was informed that he would be charged and voluntarily appeared at police headquarters to sign a form and acknowledge a May 4 court date. The original incident between Lewandowski and Fields turned Breitbart News' private internal rift over the publication's coverage of Trump into a public one as Fields and a number of other reporters resigned over what they felt was the publication's inadequate support for Fields. Breitbart's editor at large Joel Pollack also published his own video analysis of the event that initially disputed the idea that Lewandowski was the one who grabbed fields: New video of Donald Trump’s press conference Tuesday evening shows that the Washington Post’s account of an altercation involving Breitbart News reporter Michelle Fields could not possibly have happened as [Washington Post reporter] Ben Terris reported. Contrary to what Donald Trump said Thursday evening after the GOP debate, the incident certainly happened. However, the person who made contact with Fields was likely not Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski. In a later update based on different video footage, Pollack accedes that "Lewandowski appears to reach in Fields’s direction." A new birds-eye-view of the incident from video released by the Jupiter Police Department appears to show Lewandowski more than just reaching. [Update 3:45 p.m.] A newer version of the Post article omitted the paragraph characterizing the Trump campaign response as a "brazen display of dishonesty." Lowery explained via Twitter: Most people understand the word "arrested" to mean "forcibly taken into custody," but police use it much more broadly— Wesley Lowery (@WesleyLowery) March 29, 2016 understandable that Trump would not know that, deny Lewandowski "arrested" based on common man's definition but acknowledge he was "charged"— Wesley Lowery (@WesleyLowery) March 29, 2016

Fishbowl

Trump Campaign Manager Corey Lewandowski Charged With Simple Battery for Grabbing Michelle Fields

Trump campaign denies the allegations.

Corinne Grinapol

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Corinne Grinapol