Donald Trump's campaign manager will not be prosecuted on a misdemeanor battery charge after prosecutors determined there wasn't enough evidence to convict him of forcibly grabbing a female reporter, according to a court document filed today.
Police had last month charged Corey Lewandowski after determining that a videotape showed the New York City resident grabbed reporter Michelle Fields by the arm.
She worked for the conservative Breitbart News website at the time and was trying to ask Trump a question after a March 8 appearance. Fields later tweeted a photograph of her bruised forearm and said she had been yanked backward.
"Although there was probable cause to make an arrest, the evidence cannot prove all legally required elements of the crime alleged and is insufficient to support a criminal prosecution," according to a court document filed by state attorney Dave Aronberg.
Lewandowski had denied grabbing Fields and the Republican presidential candidate had stood by him, rejecting calls by his opponents to fire him. Instead he went after Fields, accusing her of exaggerating and changing her story.
At a Wisconsin campaign rally hours after Lewandowski was charged, Trump read Fields' account aloud: "Maybe he touched (her) a little bit, but I didn't see," Trump told the crowd.
"It was almost like he was trying to keep her off me, right?" Fields weighed in on Twitter: "My story never changed. Seriously, just stop lying."
She quit Breitbart shortly after the altercation, saying its editors didn't support her as they tried to maintain their relationship with Trump. Other Breitbart employees also quit.
