Patterico's Pontifications

3/11/2016

Breitbart Reporter Assaulted by Trump Campaign Manager Files Police Report

Filed under: General — Patterico @ 5:39 pm



Michelle Fields has filed a police report regarding the assault that Washington Post reporter Ben Tellis says was committed by Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski.

Meanwhile, Trump supporters put on their brave face today and linked to this post at Breitbart, in which Joel Pollak rather leapt to Lewandowski’s defense, titling his post “The Scrum: Video Emerges to Suggest WaPo Reporter Ben Terris Misidentifies Lewandowski in Fields Incident.” Here’s Lewandowski tweeting out a link to it:

Except: D’oh! That’s not the title any more. Go ahead, click the link in Lewandowski’s tweet. The title of Pollak’s piece is now: “The Scrum: Video Shows Lewandowski Reaching in Michelle Fields’s Direction.” Yes, it appears that, had Pollak waited for things to shake out a little more, he might not have posted his original exoneration of Lewandowski. Even as a pack of Trump supporters demanded apologies from me on Twitter, video emerged that appears to show Lewandowski reaching towards Fields’s left arm — the one with the bruise.

Moreover, Ben Terris, the Washington Post reporter and eyewitness who pointed the finger at Lewandowski, is sticking by his story:

“I saw what I saw,” said Terris in a brief chat with this blog. During the whole incident, says Terris, he had his “eyes trained on Corey Lewandowski,” because Terris was there to profile the campaign team with a focus on Lewandowski. Terris took strong issue with Pollak’s assertion that mistaken identity is the “likeliest explanation” based in part on Lewandowski’s denials. “Because he denied it?” asked Terris. “This is Breitbart.”

Meanwhile, Matthew Boyle has come forward (as I predicted he would) and denied the report that Lewandowski admitted all this to him. (You’ll remember that this part of the Daily Beast report had been sourced anonymously.) Boyle’s support for Trump has at times been perplexing to me, but I’m going to believe him on this — meaning we don’t have an admission from Lewandowski. It also means that the folks at the Daily Beast should have a little sit-down with their anonymous sources, because what the hell?

Nevertheless, what looked like a valiant defense seems to be crumbling.

If I were Michelle Fields, I’m not sure how I’d feel about working for an organization that rushed to exonerate a guy who assaulted me. But that’s up to her.

And I think it’s fair to say that Corey Lewandowski needs to resign. Not just for the assault, but for the nasty way he went after Fields in the aftermath.

63 Responses to “Breitbart Reporter Assaulted by Trump Campaign Manager Files Police Report”

  1. Ding. This is now the thread for Trump supporters to do their “O.J. is innocent! Oswald didn’t kill JFK!” act.

    Patterico (86c8ed)

  2. what took pipsywizzle so long is my first question

    happyfeet (831175)

  3. If Trump’s campaign manager did what he’s accused of (I’ve seen enough to say it’s very likely he did) then IMHO he shouldn’t resign, he should be fired. The cause would be stupidity; he assaulted a journalist while surrounded by cameras.

    Regarding the “Oswald didn’t kill JFK” subject, I’ll give it a go: I think we need to take a good, hard look at the case, because there’s another viable suspect; Ted Cruz. The evidence is substantial; Kennedy was shot in Texas, and Ted Cruz is a Texan. Cruz’s alibi is weak at best, and is centered on the flimsy excuse of being born in 1970.

    Arizona CJ (da673d)

  4. Gee, and what is that security guy doing? The one who is rushing up between Trump and the reporter (0:06-0:10) while Corey is looking every whichway? He sure seems like he’s on a mission. I sure would like to see the video or stills from the lady to the rear @0:09

    Kevin M (25bbee)

  5. I think there are people in the media who want Trump to be assassinated so they are trying to make a big deal about this security incident so Trump’s security people don’t react in the future when someone like Fields thrusts their arm towards Trump with an unknown object in their hand.

    I nailed it, didn’t I?

    jcurtis (5055ca)

  6. no seriously

    this sort of oh well okay you know i wasn’t gonna but i decided after all to file a police report thing is TRASHY

    jerry springer much, michelle?

    happyfeet (831175)

  7. Leave it to Happyfeet to follow the Trumpkin marching orders, attack the victim.

    JD (d10a47)

  8. oh my goodness we should all be so lucky to have this be what passes for our victimization

    i’m in my 20s in a press scrum with the GOP frontrunner and i got a bruise

    oh poor me

    happyfeet (831175)

  9. Bark Happyfeet. Bark.

    JD (d10a47)

  10. woof

    happyfeet (831175)

  11. All reporters should start wearing bodycams.

    I see a book and a Lifetime Movie of the Week in Miss Fields future.

    pinandpuller (c16705)

  12. R.I.P. Keith Emerson of Emerson, Lake & Palmer

    Icy (a09dfa)

  13. Trump is brilliant.

    His Chicago rally gets rowdy so he cancels as the cablers loop the same video. Then he calls into Matthews on MSNBC for half an hour. Then Van Sustern on Fox for 20 minutes. Then Lemon on CNN and reaches the exact television audience he wanted to reach (not those in the hall) with his rally message; spins why it was cancelled, feigns free speech violations and bigfoots cNancy Reagan funeral and Kasich town hall telecasts on a Friday evening. Brilliant. Just brilliant.

    Trump’s capacity to manage and manipulate 24/7 cable news is masterful. It would make Deaver and the Reagan media team blush with envy.

    Make book. 2016 tickets: Trump/Kasich vs. Clinton/Castro.

    Trump will win by 2.6% of the popular vote.

    DCSCA (a343d5)

  14. Not such a Lucky Man, afterall…

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  15. BLM douchebags shut Trump down

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  16. It wasn’t BLM and they didn’t shut him down; they scared him back to his safe space.

    Not that I would approve or condone something like that.

    nk (9faaca)

  17. People For Bernie, nk, and I’m listening to their EFF teh POlice as I write this. BLM and PFB rose out of the pile of waste known as the Occupy Movement

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  18. No slm is straight up white house astroturf, first they were the dream defenders, who forced out the police chief in Sanford.

    narciso (732bc0)

  19. Some thoughts upon discovering that the latest SJW drama stars histrionic Breitbart (!) employee and Fox News neocon narcissist Michelle Fields… the words of Macbeth come immediately to mind: “it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”

    Or—just made this up—”scratch a female neocon and, presto, therein the soul of the Social Justice Warrior emerges, Tweeting her bruise hysterically.”*

    rtwt

    happyfeet (831175)

  20. Taxes.

    Unreleased taxes are 100,000,000 times more important than this one entirely typical act of thuggery.

    Beldar (fa637a)

  21. Bark Happyfeet

    JD (d10a47)

  22. yip!

    happyfeet (831175)

  23. no seriously though you should read the whole thing

    happyfeet (831175)

  24. I hope Michelle Fields didn’t follow the Trump campaign to Chicago tonight.

    pinandpuller (c16705)

  25. Umm… what exactly am I supposed to see in that video?

    Boris (6c73e5)

  26. male privilege i think

    happyfeet (831175)

  27. Umm… what exactly am I supposed to see in that video?

    Boris (6c73e5) — 3/11/2016 @ 7:46 pm

    I don’t know. They are going out of their way to post the parts that are supposed to let you use your imagination, fill in the blanks, and you are supposed to get outraged or something. They completely buried all video that shows the incident straight on that would leave nothing left to the imagination. Because at worst it would show some Trump security detail moving an arm away that was getting too close to the guy they are charged to protect. It’s a difficult job.

    jcurtis (5055ca)

  28. Breitbart website has jumped the shark. Their namesake would be ashamed

    Jkstewart2 (8c4cbc)

  29. Well neocon is like tourette’s syndrome twitch, but the dialing to eleven is made clear.

    narciso (732bc0)

  30. yes yes i think they capture it

    happyfeet (831175)

  31. on megyn’s show tonight pipsywizzle literally came out and said

    she said

    i wasn’t gonna file a police report cause of they promised they were gonna apologize but they didn’t instead they got like super mean

    and this doesn’t even remotely phase so so so many people even in this little corner of the internet

    and that’s failmerica for you

    happyfeet (831175)

  32. No happy,

    It shows if Trump did the right thing and had his thug apologize that would’ve been the end of it.

    Instead Trump doubled down on stupid and forced Ms. Fields to either lose her reputation by being smeared by Trump or to file charges.

    Trump proved he’s a petty loser who doesn’t know when to show some humility.

    njrob (e6ac07)

  33. no Mr. rob nononononono

    i’m not feeling it

    I love that Mr. Trump gets in their face and punches back twice as hard with the propaganda slut media

    I LOVE IT

    it’s so new and fresh it’s like christmas morning

    i thought we all wanted this now it’s like i’m the only kid in class what raises his hand when the public school science teacher asks if your family doesn’t recycle

    happyfeet (831175)

  34. i got your affirmative action right here disney princess

    happyfeet (831175)

  35. Michelle Fields was supposed to be on Megyn Kelly’s show The Kelly File tonight. She apparently did an interview because she is listed as a guest at Kelly’s website, but I don’t know if the interview was actually aired. The interview may have been pre-empted because of coverage of the canceled Trump rally in Chicago. Kelly’s Twitter feed says the interview will be aired in the Kelly show rebroadcast at 2 AM EST.

    According to the Daily Beast, Michelle Fields seems to be the source of the story that Boyle spoke to Lewandowski and that Lewandowski admitted he grabbed her. The link also says that Fields elaborated on why she said that in her interview on The Kelly File:

    “After this had happened I called my editor [Matthew Boyle], I told him what had happened,” she told Megyn Kelly, according to a transcript provided by Fox News. “I didn’t want to file a police report. I didn’t want to make a big deal out of it because, you know, I didn’t want to be all over the press and I certainly was worried about my job. What would happen if I went to the police.

    “I told my editor and he called Corey and he spoke to him, and Corey said that he did it. He did not deny it. He said that he didn’t realize that I was a Breitbart reporter. Hope Hicks, who is Donald Trump’s spokeswoman, asked for my cell phone number and I was told that I was going to get an apology.”

    The apology never arrived.

    In addition, Breitbart’s former spokesman (who apparently quit over this story) told CNN today that Breitbart management is lying to protect Trump.

    DRJ (15874d)

  36. On Friday night’s installment of Fox News’s The Kelly File, Fields elaborated in a damning account.

    that’s at your beast link and it’s the same stuff what i got my comment at #31 from

    happyfeet (831175)

  37. I certainly was worried about my job. What would happen if I went to the police.

    yeah that has the ring of truth

    happyfeet (831175)

  38. Breitbart’s former spokesman (who apparently quit over this story)

    Kurt Bardella

    described here as a “self-publicizing, power-hungry, grade-A penis hammer”

    happyfeet (831175)

  39. yikes

    happyfeet (831175)

  40. If ropelight wants a conspiracy theory, did Trump cancel his Chicago rally tonight in order to change the subject from Michelle Fields and Corey Lewandowski?

    The campaign released a statement that the rally was canceled “after meeting with law enforcement.” Further, on Sean Hannity’s show tonight, Trump said law enforcement suggested he cancel the rally. However, the Chicago PD says it didn’t tell Trump to cancel the rally:

    On Friday, a planned Donald Trump rally in Chicago was canceled after protestors swarmed the event venue. In a statement released by the Trump campaign, they said that the decision to cancel the rally was made after meeting with law enforcement.

    According to the Chicago Police, this isn’t true, and no threats were issued. Specifically, the police say they were “not consulted” until after the rally was canceled.

    Did the Secret Service intervene or is Trump changing the subject?

    DRJ (15874d)

  41. … described here as a “self-publicizing, power-hungry, grade-A penis hammer”

    What would Donald Trump see in a man like that?

    DRJ (15874d)

  42. that’s at your beast link and it’s the same stuff what i got my comment at #31 from

    I saw your comment but your synopsis was abbreviated. I thought people might appreciate more information.

    DRJ (15874d)

  43. it’s not like America’s all abuzz with the dickensian travails of Michelle Fields

    happyfeet (831175)

  44. I saw your comment but your synopsis was abbreviated. I thought people might appreciate more information.

    yes yes plus my synopsis was tendentious

    happyfeet (831175)

  45. What would Donald Trump see in a man like that?

    an apprentice?

    happyfeet (831175)

  46. Maybe so, if he needed training to maximize those qualities. Otherwise an alter ego or clone.

    DRJ (15874d)

  47. Bardella’s resignation prevented us from seeing Trump yell “You’re Fired!” This political race is like a Donald Trump reality show, but that would turn it into the real thing.

    DRJ (15874d)

  48. The apprentice line was good, hf.

    DRJ (15874d)

  49. This political race is like a Donald Trump reality show, but that would turn it into the real thing.

    i truly don’t get why people aren’t just super-excited to get rid of food stamp and sidestep the nasty incontinent old woman

    why isn’t that enough

    like i’d be all bummed out if Cruz won

    or even lil roob roob

    happyfeet (831175)

  50. Bush would’ve taken a few therapy pup sessions, but I’d have made the adjustment eventually

    happyfeet (831175)

  51. ok that’s a lie

    happyfeet (831175)

  52. Happy,

    is there any reason you keep spamming the threads over and over again?

    Trump provoked the situation because he doesn’t know when to act like a man. He’s still throwing a temper tantrum as we type.

    NJRob (a07d2e)

  53. ok i’m a go to my quiet place

    happyfeet (831175)

  54. Frank Luntz:

    Trump knew in advance about tonite’s protests and capitalized off them with a spike in media coverage before Tuesday

    Plus:

    Trump will dominate weekend news coverage before Tuesday’s pivotal primaries

    News coverage raises his poll numbers.

    More @FrankLuntz.

    DRJ (15874d)

  55. The canceled/violent rallies knock the Lewandowski story off the radar and dominate the media for days before the election. Win-win for Trump and for his supporters, who enjoy whatever he does. And a win for the media, because the ratings go up. The losers are everyone who doesn’t think America should be a reality show.

    DRJ (15874d)

  56. DRJ,

    nailed it.

    NJRob (a07d2e)

  57. I’m shocked that happyfeet is not only defending but celebrating the assault and battery on an innocent woman doing her job.

    Typical Trump supporters who don’t care about what is right, what is moral, and what is legal. They only care about “toughness”. That always works out well.

    Patrick Henry, the 2nd (ddead1)

  58. It now looks like Michelle Fields and Ben Terris manufactured the grabbing incident. Keep your powder dry – the truth will come out, the guilty will be exposed, and all those who rushed to judgment will have egg on their faces.

    ropelight (885d54)

  59. No they are still over macho grande.

    narciso (87f852)

  60. Fair warning: anyone taking a position on the manhandled woman just doing her job meme (Patterico, JD, DRJ, et al) should take a look at A.R.’s linked vidio at #58.

    ropelight (885d54)

  61. Trump or Chicago PD Lying? Well, based on their actual history and integrity, the best guess is “both”.

    SPQR (448563)

  62. Actually, to me it doesn’t look like they manufactured it from whole cloth,
    But a bit of exaggeration was in play,
    And to say nothing happened was not quite right either.
    More on the other thread,
    And that is all.

    MD not exactly in Philly (b0439a)

  63. Manhandled? Assaulted? Yanked to the floor? Typical of Trump supporters? MD, is what you see on the video only a bit of exaggeration or is it evidence of a dirty lie?

    ropelight (885d54)


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