March 29, 2016

New Video Shows Trump Campaign Manager Grabbing a Reporter. Here Are All the Times the Trump Campaign Denied It.

It’s a long list.

Charlie Neibergall, File/AP

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Corey Lewandowski, Donald Trump’s campaign manager, was charged with misdemeanor battery on Tuesday for forcibly grabbing Breitbart News reporter Michelle Fields on March 8 in Jupiter, Florida. According to the Palm Beach Post, Lewandowski turned himself in to police in Jupiter on Tuesday morning, about two weeks after Fields filed a complaint with the police. The Jupiter Police Department released this video of the incident on Tuesday:

 

 

Despite the new evidence, and multiple earlier reports that Lewandowski had grabbed Fields, the Trump campaign is still proclaiming Lewandoswki’s innocence, declaring in a statement that he “is absolutely innocent of this charge” and “will enter a plea of not guilty and looks forward to his day in court.” It’s hardly the first denial from the Trump campaign. Here is a list of those denials.

On March 10, two days after the incident, Trump’s spokeswoman, Hope Hicks, released a statement calling Fields’ allegations “entirely false.” She denied that there were any witnesses (which there were) or any camera footage (which we now have). The statement also implied that Fields had a “pattern of exaggerating incidents” in order to make herself “part of the news story.”

Later that day, Lewandowski began to attack Fields himself.

Trump accused Fields of being a fabulist. After a Republican debate that evening, Trump responded to a question about the incident by suggesting Fields invented the incident. “Perhaps she made the story up,” Trump said. “I think that’s what happened.”

Lewandowski continued his Twitter barrage the next day.

After Lewandowski was charged on Tuesday, the campaign continued to defend him.

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BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

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