Update: Now a major story on Memeorandum. Here’s the link to the original story at Palm Beach Post.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2Pkh5W1kgU

The story via NYT:

Donald J. Trump’s presidential campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, was charged with simple battery Tuesday after the police said he grabbed a reporter for Breitbart News as she tried to ask the candidate a question in Jupiter, Fla., according to the police.

The formal charges stem from a March 8 encounter that dominated headlines for days and became an unwanted distraction for Mr. Trump’s campaign after his successful victories in Super Tuesday contests.

A spokeswoman for Mr. Trump, Hope Hicks, insisted that Mr. Lewandowski was “not arrested” over the allegations that he grabbed the reporter, Michelle Fields, after a news conference at Trump National Golf Club in Jupiter. Instead, she said he “was issued a notice to appear and was given a court date.”

According to the “arrest/notice to appear” paperwork from the Jupiter Police Department, Mr. Lewandowski was charged with one count of simple battery after the police took statements from Ms. Fields and a Washington Post reporter, Ben Terris, who said he witnessed the grabbing incident.

Ms. Fields said after the news conference that she had been trying to question Mr. Trump about judges and affirmative action when Mr. Lewandowski grabbed her roughly. She posted on Twitter a picture of purplish, finger-shaped bruises on her arm.

Mr. Lewandowski denied touching her and called her “delusional.”

But according to the police report, security video from the Trump golf club showed Mr. Lewandowski grabbing her and pulling her away from the candidate.

Indeed, a series of still photographs captured from security cameras at the golf club, released Tuesday by the Jupiter police, appears to corroborate Ms. Fields’s version of events: Mr. Lewandowski can be seen reaching for and then grabbing her arm, tugging at her clothing as he pulls her; he then walks ahead of her, close behind Mr. Trump. It all takes less than four seconds.

Mr. Lewandowski is known as a combative and sometimes divisive figure in Mr. Trump’s orbit. He has been known to scream and curse at reporters with regularity, putting some on a “blacklist” for coverage he considers unfavorable. And more recently, he was seen wandering into the crowd at a Trump rally in Arizona to confront a protester, grabbing the man by the back of his collar and pulling him.

Ms. Hicks, in her statement: said, “Mr. Lewandowski was issued a notice to appear and was given a court date. He was not arrested. Mr. Lewandowski is absolutely innocent of this charge. He will enter a plea of not guilty and looks forward to his day in court. He is completely confident that he will be exonerated.”

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[podcast]

Dear Donald J. Trump,

I have been a supporter of yours for a very long time. I began to take your campaign seriously after the first few primaries and caucuses. I liked your stances on foreign policy and on free trade and I still happen to think that they are good positions to take and I thank you for taking them. I also thank you for coming out and slugging it out with the Republican Establishment.

However, Mr. Trump. I happen to be a person of morals; I cannot continue to support your Presidential Campaign any longer. I even donated five dollars to your campaign recently as well. It seems that your followers, or supporters, if you will, have a bit of a problem.

The case I am referring to is the horrible smear that is being bandied about regarding your opponent Ted Cruz; you know, the Christian that subscribes to the dominionist theology? Now, my issue is not so much the smear of Cruz that bothers me; I really do not like the guy either. Ted Cruz is much to the right of me. Ted Cruz’s Dominionist stance does creep me out in a big way.

However, it is someone, which has been caught up in the scandal that really bothers me; in fact, it really pisses me the hell off — in a big way. This scandal has ensnared and tainted the reputation of a one, Amanda Carpenter, who is, conversely, a very sweet and lovely woman, who is a believer in Jesus Christ, just like me.

Now, I know and I do believe you, when you say that you had nothing to do with the scandal. In fact, it has been reported that Macro Rubio’s allies were responsible for the story. I believe that to be a fact and I trust you, when you say that the story was not planted by you, at all.

However, Don, and I hope I can call you that, what brought me to decision to rescind my support of your campaign is one thing and one thing alone: your supporters. I happened to be on twitter tonight looking at Amanda Carpenter’s twitter timeline and some of the replies to Amanda’s tweets were deplorable. This poor woman smeared as an adulterating whore by your supporters on twitter. This, my friend, is very unacceptable.

Now, I know what you are thinking; “He is going blame me for what others say?” Well, no, not exactly. I do not blame you for what is being said about this woman. However, I do blame you for one thing and that is cheapening the discourse in the political conversation. They are quite numerous: The attacks Megyn Kelly, the broadsided comments about women in general, your equating all of those who practice Islam to terrorism, the nuanced racism in your campaign and the not-so-nuanced racism of many of your followers and your utter refusal to distance yourself at great lengths from these people. I tried ignoring it; I tried giving you the benefit of the doubt — I tried, man, I really did try.

Now, I am sitting watching your supporters and the media smearing this beautiful woman; and you are doing nothing about it, at all. This, my friend, is just too damned much for me. I cannot and will not sit idly by and watch this woman being slimed like this, for political gain, not yours, not Rubio’s; not for anyone. This is enough for me and I am, as they say; cutting bait.

Therefore, I want it to be publicly known; I have removed an image that was created by someone that I included a link to your donation page on your campaign’s website. I cannot be seen as someone that thinks that this sort of idiotic smearing of a happily married woman with children is even remotely acceptable; it is not and I will not be ex parte to it.

So, what happens now? I will be voting third party. I never fully ever trusted the Republican Party. To me, they are the party of the wealthy class, to which I am not a part of, at all. I come from a working class family, which were represented by the Democrats — Although, conversely, The Democratic Party could give a remote damn about us anymore. They simply now are the party of special interest and globalism. I will never for that party anymore. But, as it seems that you are going to be the “anointed one” come the Cleveland Convention; I will vote a third party, most likely either Libertarian or Constitution Party.

I wish you the best in your pursuit. However, I will have to leave you now.

Signed,

-Charles Patrick Adkins

Owner

Eye on the Republic