[guest post by Dana]

Corey Lewandowski was charged with misdemeanor battery today in the Michelle Fields case. She was the reporter who alleged that Lewandowski grabbed her while she attempted to ask Donald Trump a question at a press conference earlier this month.

Lewandowski, who has denied any wrongdoing, plead not guilty this morning in Jupiter, Florida. He is expected to appear in court on May 4.

Donald Trump tweeted:

Wow, Corey Lewandowski, my campaign manager and a very decent man, was just charged with assaulting a reporter. Look at tapes-nothing there!

Followed by:

Why aren’t people looking at this reporters earliest statement as to what happened, that is before she found out the episode was on tape?

Michelle Fields responded to Trump’s tweet:

Because my story never changed. Seriously, just stop lying.

Trump also asked whether he could press charges against Fields for allegedly touching him at the time of the Lewandowski incident:

[Per a commenter’s suggestion: If you watch the video below, “you will see that Trump’s screengrab is deceptive. He was reaching for something in his pocket” – Ed]

The Jupiter PD released a video of the incident as seen from a different angle:

–Dana

UPDATE BY PATTERICO: Watch the video and you’ll see Trump’s screengrab is deceptive. He was reaching for something in his pocket. Shocking, I know, that he would lie like that, isn’t it?

I was going to take up nk’s idea of a one-word post that says “Trump” — but I actually have something to say today. Dang it.

I’m not doing a step-by-step debunking of all the junk surrounding the National Enquirer story. But there’s one guy out there, Mike Cernovich, who is spreading misinformation about it. By ripping stuff out of context, Cernovich sees “smoke” where there is nothing but fumes from dry ice. Example:

Alleged Cruz mistress @amandacarpenter calls Cruz "Daddy." #cruzsexscandal https://t.co/uVodTtQwfE pic.twitter.com/wLdnSrv5ab

— Mike Cernovich (@Cernovich) March 27, 2016

This is actually false, as you can see. Carpenter does not call Cruz “Daddy.” She calls him “Daddy Cruz” — and why might that be? Look at the date on her tweet: December 22, 2015. Was there anything happening that day that involved the Washington Post and Ted Cruz as a father of actual daughters? Hmmmmmm:

Classy. @washingtonpost makes fun of my girls. Stick w/ attacking me–Caroline & Catherine are out of your league. https://t.co/N61ys6z8w1

— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) December 22, 2015

Because the cartoonist deleted the tweet, you’ll have to look at Dana’s December 22, 2015 post to remind yourself of what it said. Fortunately, Dana had the screenshot:

Before the cartoonist deleted it, it was an animated GIF of Cruz pulling his daughters like monkeys on leashes. Something that made Daddy Cruz angry at the Washington Post.

But Cernovich now has his false narrative that has Carpenter calling Cruz “Daddy” as in “WHO’S YOUR DADDY” and he runs with it in other out-of-context tweets:

Daddy Cruz was in a fun mood, according to Amanda Carpenter, at 5:22 a.m. Up all night? #CruzSexScandal pic.twitter.com/ipnwmcpE1l

— Mike Cernovich (@Cernovich) March 27, 2016

Cruz and alleged #CruzSexScandal mistress Amanda Carpenter had matching tattoos. Cute! https://t.co/YIuqfgFdr7 pic.twitter.com/achPHtdFBc

— Mike Cernovich (@Cernovich) March 25, 2016

AMANDA AND “DADDY” CRUZ GOT MATCHING TATTOOS!!!1! BusTED AMIRITE?!?!?!!!!!1!!!

Except, looking at the date on the tweets might help: April 1, 2014. Carpenter worked for Cruz back then, and the staff all decided to get these Winston Churchill tattoos, and have Cruz pretend on TV that his was permanent, as a joke. An . . . April Fool’s joke.

I think this April Fool's Day I might break out the fake Churchill tattoo again. Bc that's what it was. A staff wide joke. For April Fool's

— Amanda Carpenter (@amandacarpenter) March 28, 2016

Why did I tweet about it early am? So when Cruz went on TV to show his new "tat" there was a warning he was having fun. Keep up Trumpies.

— Amanda Carpenter (@amandacarpenter) March 28, 2016

These are just examples. There’s more: photoshops of Carpenter putting condoms on her [UPDATE: supposedly balancing a wrapped condom on the shoulder of her dress, to clarify]; pretending that Carpenter is wearing Cruz’s jacket in one of the photos above when it is a woman’s elbow-length jacket with ruched sleeves; and so on.

It’s shameful what these people are doing. But low-information folks might take nonsense like Cernovich’s as convincing. It’s like a lot of what Trump says: it’s total crap if you think about it for one moment. So I figured it was worth taking that moment to set forth the context that folks like Mike Cernovich aren’t giving you.

UPDATE: Also, there is security camera footage of Corey Lewandowski grabbing Michelle Fields, truthers. Enjoy. He has been charged with battery. It deserves its own post but no time this morning.