(CNN) — Palm Beach County Florida State Attorney David Aronberg will not prosecute Donald Trump's campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, Aronberg announced Thursday. "As state attorney I have made the decision that this office will not be filing charges against Corey Lewandowski for battery," Aronberg said at a news conference.
A former reporter for Breitbart, Michelle Fields, sought charges against Lewandowski after an incident in March where she said Lewandowski pulled her away from Trump as she was trying to ask him a question.
Aronberg said police were within their right to charge Lewandowski, but prosecutors are held to a higher standard and thus didn't find enough to bring the case.
He also revealed that Trump personally spoke with prosecutors and the campaign shared a draft of an apology letter with Aronberg's office "earlier this week," though it apparently has not yet been sent.
Aronberg and his deputy who reviewed the case, Adrienne Ellis, said the video clearly shows Fields making contact with Trump's arm as she tries to interview him, him recoiling and shows Lewandowski grab her arm and pull her away.
After reviewing the evidence in the case, the state attorney said he doesn't feel there is enough evidence to pursue criminal charges. He explained that while police are required to meet a "probably cause" threshold to make an arrest, prosecutors must believe they have a chance to prove beyond a reasonable doubt the battery occurred and get a conviction.
"They acted well within their authority to investigate and make an independent charging decision. We agree that probable cause exists for the Jupiter Police Department to charge Mr. Lewandwoski in this case," Aronberg said. "Our standard is higher than probable cause. ... Although the facts support the allegation that Mr. Lewandowski did grab Ms. Fields' arm against her will, Mr. Lewandowski has a reasonable hypothesis of innocence"
(More at the link, including a video.)
