Trump defends his embattled campaign chief
Reporter who claims assault was wielding pen, Trump says
For Donald Trump, the pen could actually be as mighty as the sword.
On morning news shows, Trump said Wednesday a reporter accusing his campaign manager Corey Lewandowski of assault was holding a potential weapon— a pen.
The former Breitbart reporter, Michelle Fields, “broke through the Secret Service” and “was asking questions when there were no questions” after a March 8 news conference at Trump National Golf Club in Jupiter, Trump told ABC’s Good Morning America.
“She also had a pen in her hand — that
could have been a knife,” Trump said, adding that the reporter kept grabbing his arm. “Even a pen is dangerous. Secret Service doesn’t want people running up to me and grabbing me with a pen.”
Trump said Lewandowski reflexively grabbed the reporter’s arm to protect him, and “she was hardly even touched.”
The Jupiter Police Department made the wrong call in charging Lewandowski, Trump said.
“This is the weakest charge we’ve ever seen,” Trump said. “Let it go to court.
“He’ll win this case 100 percent in front of a jury. She had no right inmy opinion to file a case on something like this.”
Three days after the incident, when Fields met with Jupiter Police, there still were bruises on her left arm that appeared to be finger marks left by being grabbed, according to police, providing enough probable cause to charge Lewandowski.
The State Attorney’s Office will review the police file and decide on how to proceed before Lewandowski’s arraignment on May 4, State Attorney Dave Aronberg said in a prepared statement.
“Law enforcement charges on a probable cause standard,” the statement read. “The State has to proceed on a legally higher standard of proof, which is beyond a reasonable doubt as well as whether there is a reasonable likelihood of a conviction.”
As of Wednesday, the State Attorney’s Office had not received the case, according to the statement.