WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — The Latest on a battery charge for Donald Trump’s campaign manager (all times local):
2:20 p.m.
A prosecutor who has decided not to pursue battery charges against Donald Trump’s top aide says he talked with the female reporter who was grabbed and she is upset by his decision.
Palm Beach County state attorney Dave Aronberg said during a news conference Thursday that he had spoken to reporter Michelle Fields.
She worked for the conservative Breitbart News website at the time and was trying to ask Trump a question after a March 8 appearance.
She tweeted a photograph of bruises on her forearm and said she had been yanked backward.
Campaign manager Corey Lewandowski had denied grabbing Fields and Trump had stood by him. The prosecutor says he spoke with the Republican presidential candidate about the case, but it didn’t have any bearing on the decision.
Aronberg says there is not enough evidence to pursue a charge against Lewandowski.
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1:30 p.m.
Prosecutors have decided not to press misdemeanor battery charges against Donald Trump’s campaign manager over a videotaped altercation with a female reporter.
The Palm Beach County state attorney’s office said in the document Thursday that they wouldn’t pursue charges against campaign manager Corey Lewandowski. A news conference was planned for 2 p.m.
Police charged Lewandowski last month after determining that the videotape showed he grabbed reporter Michelle Fields by the arm. She worked for the conservative Breitbart News website at the time and was trying to ask Trump a question after a March 8 appearance.
She tweeted a photograph of bruises on her forearm and said she had been yanked backward.
Lewandowski had denied grabbing Fields and Trump had stood by him, rejecting calls by his opponents to fire him.
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8:50 a.m.
A Florida prosecutor’s office plans to hold a news conference amid reports that presidential candidate Donald Trump’s campaign manager won’t be prosecuted over a videotaped altercation with a female reporter.
In an email, Mike Edmondson of Palm Beach County state attorney Dave Aronberg’s office says there will be a news conference at 2 p.m. Thursday. Edmondson would not say what the news conference will be about.
Police in Jupiter, Florida, charged Corey Lewandowski with simple battery, a misdemeanor, last month.
The charge came after a video showed Lewandowski grabbing Michelle Fields, who worked for Breitbart News at the time, as she tried to ask Trump a question after a March 8 appearance. The video appears to show him yanking her backward.
Trump’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Lewandowski has said he’s innocent.
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