Prosecutor drops simple battery case against Trump aide Lewandowski

A Florida state attorney said Thursday he would not prosecute Donald Trump's campaign manager for simple battery in connection with an incident involving a reporter, saying a conviction would have been unlikely.

"This office will not be filing charges against Corey Lewandowski for battery," Palm Beach County State Attorney Dave Aronberg told reporters in Florida.

Echoing a legal filing made earlier in the day, Aronberg said the evidence — including a video — justified Fields' complaint that Lewandowski grabbed her after a March 8 news conference, but there is a question as to whether his action constituted criminal activity. Aronberg noted that the legal bar for a police charge is lower than the one for an actual prosecution.

The Trump campaign said in a statement that Lewandowski is "gratified by the decision to drop the misdemeanor charge," and "the matter is now concluded."

Police in Jupiter, Fla., had charged Lewandowski last month with simple battery in the wake of the March 8 confrontation with Breitbart News correspondent Michelle Fields.

Fields, who has since resigned from Breitbart, said Lewandowski forcibly grabbed her by the arm and pulled her back as she tried to ask Trump a question after a news conference. She produced a photo of bruises on her arm.

"Although there was probable cause to make an arrest," Thursday's legal filing said, "the evidence cannot prove all legally required elements of the crime alleged and is insufficient to support a criminal prosecution."

Lewandowski, 42, denied wrongdoing and said he was trying to protect Trump from Fields.

Police released video of the incident when it charged Lewandowski on March 29.

Trump campaign manager charged with simple battery

Aronberg said his office spoke with Trump, who said that Fields touched him and urged prosecutors to "do the right thing."

While the facts support Fields' statements and the police charge, Aronberg said that "it is unethical for us to file cases when we believe there is not a good-faith basis to proceed."

Had the case gone to trial, Aronberg said, Lewandowski would have had "a reasonable hypothesis for innocence."

Lewandowski, who ran the Trump campaign since its inception last year, has seen his position change in the weeks since the misdemeanor battery charge. Trump has hired veteran Republican operative Paul Manafort to be his convention manager, and it appears that Lewandowski and Manafort are now sharing power within the campaign organization.

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Fields has said she is considering a defamation suit against Lewandowski, who had called her "delusional" after the incident occurred.

On Twitter, Fields said the Florida prosecutor's office asked her two weeks ago if she would accept a public apology from Lewandowski. She said she never heard back from the office.

Aronberg said his office spoke with Fields, and "it was clear to us she was disappointed by this decision."

State attorneys are elected in Florida. Aronberg, a registered Democrat who knew Trump Republican opponent Ted Cruz in law school, rejected suggestions that politics played a role in the Lewandowski case.

"This is an apolitical office," Aronberg said, and the case was handled in a "non-partisan manner."