SKEPTICAL

Prosecutor: Lewandowski Was Likely Protecting Trump

Will not proceed with battery case.

Donald Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski has a “reasonable hypothesis of innocence” and therefore will not go to court for charges that he battered ex-Breitbart reporter Michelle Fields at a Florida campaign rally last month. According to prosecutor Adrienne Ellis, the state will not proceed with the case because, she hypothesizes, Lewandowski could have grabbed Fields’ arm in an attempt to protect the GOP presidential frontrunner from a potential threat. Ellis noted that according to former FBI agent Barton Brown, it is not uncommon for campaign staff to be given implicit authority from Secret Service agents to help enforce a “protective bubble” around the candidate. While evidence proves that Lewandowski did indeed forcefully grab and pull back Fields, the state does not believe it can prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt. Even though Lewandowski lied after the incident and claimed he never touched the reporter, Ellis added, such actions do not “outweigh the reasonable hypothesis of innocence.”

During a Thursday afternoon press conference announcing the decision not to follow through on the charges, prosecutors revealed that Lewandowski’s lawyers had drafted an apology for Fields but have yet to send it. “Had an apology been given at the beginning of this, we could’ve avoided the whole criminal justice system,” they added.