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Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Back issues
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Trump Campaign Official Charged With Battery

(CN) - Donald Trump's campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, has been charged with misdemeanor battery after a Breitbart News former reporter says he manhandled her as she tried to ask the candidate a question at a campaign event.

In a statement, the Trump campaign said Lewandowski is "absolutely innocent" and will fight the charge.

Michelle Fields filed an incident report with the Jupiter Police Department on March 11, claiming she was the victim of simple battery at a Trump event held at the Trump National Golf Club the previous Tuesday.

The department later confirmed it was investigating the incident, but said no further information was available at this time.

In an op-ed Fields wrote about the incident, the 28 year old reporter said she was grabbed by someone as she tried to ask a question of the candidate, and that a Washington Post reporter, Ben Terris, "immediately remarked that it was Trump's campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, who aggressively tried to pull me to the ground."

Trump later told reporters who inquired about the alleged incident that "nothing happened."

"Perhaps she made the story up," he said.

After learning that Fields had filed an incident report with police, the Trump campaign sent out a one paragraph release reiterating its contention the incident never happened.

Fields and three of her colleagues: editor-at-large Ben Shapiro, national security reporter Jordan Schachtel and Jarrett Stepman, an editor, later resigned from Breitbart News, a conservative news site, over what they said was a lack of support from their employer over the incident.

On Tuesday, after the charge was announced, Trump spokeswoman Hope Hicks said Lewandowski "will enter a not guilty plea and looks forward to his day in court. He is completely confident that he will be exonerated."

Lewandowski is represented by Scott Richardson of the law office of Scott N. Richardson, P.A. in West Palm Beach, and Kendall Coffey of Coffey Burlington in Miami.

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