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Witness: Breitbart Reporter Faked 'Slip & Fall' When Touched By Trump Manager -- Battery Charge Dropped

  • by: Alan Duke
  • (Thu, 14 Apr 2016 20:53:57 Z)

A man who claimed to have witnessed the encounter between Donald Trump's campaign manager and a Breitbart reporter told an investigator that it "looked like a fraudulent slip and fall."

Corey Lewandowski was charged with simple battery against Michelle Fields two weeks ago but the local prosecutor has now dismissed the case.

Jupiter, Florida, police released to Lead Stories the full video of Michael Spellman's visit with the detective probing the alleged assault.

Spellman blamed seeing Fields "rush up to Trump" after a news conference, saying she then "shoved the phone into his face."

Security video showed Lewandowski reaching toward Fields and touching her arm. Fields later claimed she was bruised in the encounter and almost caused to fall to the floor.

Spellman told the investigator it appeared to him that Fields was faking the impact.

"Suddenly she makes a dramatic spin and turn that looked like a fraudulent slip and fall," Spellman said. "I man it was just blatant."

While it was unclear if Spellman is a Trump supporter, it was clear he is not a fan of the news media. He called the reporters at the news conference "rude, rude people."

Spellman said he was just "doing my civic duty" in telling what he saw after he realized Lewandowski had been charged.

This is the video released by police to Lead Stories last month showing the incident.

Read also: Donald Trump Campaign Manager Corey Lewandowski Arrested For Battery Of Reporter

About the author:

Editor-in-Chief Alan Duke co-founded Lead Stories after ending a 26-year career with CNN, where he mainly covered entertainment, current affairs and politics. Duke closely covered domestic terrorism cases for CNN, including the Oklahoma City federal building bombing, the UNABOMBER and search for Southeast bomber Eric Robert Rudolph. CNN moved Duke to Los Angeles in 2009 to cover the entertainment beat. Duke also co-hosted a daily podcast with former HLN host Nancy Grace, "Crime Stories with Nancy Grace" and hosted the podcast series "Stan Lee's World: His Real Life Battle with Heroes & Villains." You'll also see Duke in many news documentaries, including on the Reelz channel, CNN and HLN.

Read more about or contact Alan Duke