WASHINGTON — Florida police have charged Donald Trump's campaign manager Corey Lewandowski with simple battery in connection with an incident earlier this month involving a reporter.
Police in Jupiter, Florida, issued Lewandowski a notice Tuesday to appear before a judge on May 4 for the misdemeanour charge. A surveillance video released by the police appears to show Lewandowski grabbing a reporter for Breitbart News as she tried to ask Trump a question during a March 8 campaign event.
The charge carries up to a year in jail.
The Trump campaign said Lewandowski "is absolutely innocent of this charge" in a statement released Tuesday.
"He will enter a plea of not guilty and looks forward to his day in court," said the statement. "He is completely confident that he will be exonerated."
Trump himself called Lewandowski "a very decent man" on Twitter: "Look at the tapes — nothing there!"
A police report obtained by The Associated Press includes an interview with the report, Michelle Fields, who worked for Breitbart News at the time.
"Lewandowski grabbed Fields' left arm with his right hand causing her to turn and step back," reads the report. Fields showed police her left forearm which "appeared to show a grabbing-type injury," according to the investigating officer.
In the days after the alleged assault, Trump told CNN that the incident was probably "made up." Campaign spokeswoman Hope Hicks went further at the time, saying in a statement that "not a single camera or reporter of more than 100 in attendance captured the alleged incident."
Lewandowski has retained a Florida attorney who said Tuesday there would be no further comment.
The incident could fuel attacks by anti-Trump groups, who have already been attacking the New York billionaire for failing to quell violence at his rallies.
