Tipsheet

Trump Campaign Accuses Breitbart Reporter Of Pretty Much Lying About Assault

UPDATE: Politico has obtained a transcript of the the incident based on audio recordings:

Fields: “Mr. Trump, you went after the late Scalia for affirmative action, do you -- are you still against affirmative action?"

Voice (allegedly Corey Lewandowski): “Excuse me, thank you.”

A few moments later (noise of the room can be heard)...

Terris: “You OK?"

Fields: “Holy sh*t."

Terris: “Yea he just threw you down."

Fields: “I can’t believe he just did that that was so hard. Was that Corey?"

Terris: “Yeah, like, what threat were you?"

Fields: "That was insane. You should have felt how hard he grabbed me. That's insane. I’ve never had anyone do that to me from a campaign."

Terris: “Can I put that in my story?"

Fields: “Yeah, go for it — that was really awful. That’s so unprofessional.”

Terris: “He really just almost threw you down on the ground."

Fields: “He literally went like this and was grabbing me down. I don’t even what to do [about] what he just did to me. Oh my God, that really spooked me that someone would do that."

Terris: “What threat were you?"

Fields: “Nothing. I was asking about affirmative action."

Terris: “And he probably knows you, right?"

Fields: “Yeah, I don’t understand. That looks horrible. You’re going after a Breitbart reporter, the people who are nicest to you?"

Terris: “I know, I’m going to put it in my story."

***Original Post***

Earlier this morning, Katie wrote about the alleged assault that occurred at Donald Trump’s press conference in Jupiter, Florida after he won the Michigan and Mississippi primaries. Yet, a rather disturbing incident occurred between Breitbart reporter Michelle Fields and Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski after the conference wrapped. Sources report that Fields was trying to ask the billionaire magnate a question about affirmative action, when Lewandowski grabbed Fields and almost threw her to the ground. Her boyfriend and senior editor at the Daily Caller, Jamie Weinstein, was the first to tweet about the incident, noting the incident, along with calling Lewandowski a “thug.”

The Trump campaign released a statement totally denying such an encounter between Fields and Lewandowski ever occurred. 

Spokesperson Hope Hicks said the incident was “entirely false,” saying she was with Trump at the time of the alleged assault and “did not witness the encounter.” The statement continues by saying “Mr. Trump and our staff would never do anything to harm another individual, while at the same time understanding that Mr. Trump and his personal space should never be invaded.”

Hicks then goes after Fields, questioning whether she was “beaten by a New York City Police officer with a baton” while covering the Occupy Wall Street protests five years ago–as if to say she has a penchant for exaggerating facts. As Buzzfeed’s CJ Ciaramella noted, there is video of Fields getting “manhandled” by the NYPD during those protests. Moreover, I doubt Fields got this bruise on her arm all by herself.

Also, The Daily Beast reported that sources with knowledge of conversations between Breitbart’s Washington political editor, Matt Boyle, and Lewandowski suggest that the latter didn’t know Fields was with the publication, but “an adversarial member of the mainstream media” because that makes it totally okay to grab someone and nearly take them to the ground, or something.

Oh, and about the no witnesses part:

Via WaPo:

As security parted the masses to give him passage out of the chandelier-lit ballroom, Michelle Fields, a young reporter for Trump-friendly Breitbart News, pressed forward to ask the GOP front-runner a question. I watched as a man with short-cropped hair and a suit grabbed her arm and yanked her out of the way. He was Corey Lewandowski, Trump’s 41-year-old campaign manager.

Fields stumbled. Finger-shaped bruises formed on her arm.

“I’m just a little spooked,” she said, a tear streaming down her face. “No one has grabbed me like that before.”

She took my arm and squeezed it hard. “I don’t even want to do it as hard as he did,” she said, “because it would hurt.”

And that looks like a police baton, no?

UPDATE II: Breitbart News CEO and President Larry Solov disappointed in Trump campaign's response: