Probably not all that surprising, in retrospect. There are any number of factors working in the ex-Trump campaign manager's favor on this matter.
But first, the particulars:
A Florida prosecutor has decided not to prosecute Donald Trump’s [de facto former] campaign manager for battery after a March run-in with former Breitbart reporter Michelle Fields, sources with knowledge of the situation told Politico.
The decision not to press charges against Corey Lewandowski is scheduled to be announced on Thursday afternoon by Palm Beach County State Attorney David Aronberg.
Fields may still pursue a defamation case against Lewandowski, a source said.
Which, much like when O.J. Simpson was unjustly acquitted of murdering his wife in what was an open & shut case but subsequently had his ass nailed to the wall in civil litigation, is where her justice will be done. And that will do far more lasting damage anyway than a misdemeanor battery charge ever would have. "Hell hath no fury" and all that.
So why is Mr. Aronberg not prosecuting the poster child for anger management? I can think of several right off the bat.
1) Trump may have bought him off; as has been amply pointed out by Trumplicans, Mr. Aronberg is a Democrat, and Trump has made a career of buying Donk politicians and officials, big and small.
2) Trump, Inc. may have directly or indirectly threatened Mr. Aronberg if he turned down the bribe, something for which there is ample precedent from this very GOP primary campaign.
The caveat to these two theories is Lewandowski's recent fade from power within the campaign in favor of convention manager and de facto campaign head Paul Manafort. I think one of the first matters on which the latter advised the millionaire slumlord was to demote Lewandowski and put a professional in charge - him. Lewandowski is a small-timer and a thug. He has no self-control and no discretion, and was systematically destroying the morale of what organization Trump does have with his constant profane verbal tirades. Or, in other words, he was the son Trump never had, a mini-me to the pompadoured prince in every respect, which is why The Donald was so loyal to him. But in reality, Lewandowski was a liability who would keep producing these public relations headaches for the campaign that they didn't need, especially in a general campaign as uphill as the one they're looking at and with even the GOP nomination slipping from Hairboy's grasp. Trump already hitched his fortunes to this needless fiasco too much already; why would he double-down even further?
The answer, of course, is because he's Donald Trump, and that's what Donald Trump does. It took Paul Manafort to convince him, in his own political interests, to stop digging.
3) Given Trump's presumed popularity in Florida in general and the town of Jupiter (where one of his resorts is located) in particular, finding an objective jury would have proven....difficult.
4) In general, misdemeanor battery charges apparently are rarely brought to trial anywhere.
5) Mens rea (the mental state a person must be in while committing a crime for it to be intentional). In this case, did Lewandowski specifically grab Michelle Fields' arm with intent to physically harm her? He admitted for the first two days after the incident that he grabbed her, but said that he didn't know whom he had grabbed, thinking her to be an Obamedia reporter (again, like that made it okay). He just saw somebody where he didn't think that somebody should be and attacked. Consequently, the threshold of criminal intent in a misdemeanor battery case would have been difficult to prove.
So, that charge against Corey Lewandowski has been dropped, and we'll see how stupidly Trump publicly celebrates it instead of just pocketing his "win" and letting the matter lie where it is entirely in his best interests to leave it.
However, that does not change one jot or tittle of the facts of the incident itself. Corey Lewandowski did rag-doll Michelle Fields, he did admit to doing so, he and his boss then did proceed to lie about it and smear Miss Fields, and all Trumplicans joined in it and made a reprehensible metaphorical dogpile on her in the classic Clintonoid tradition. And that will all be receipted in the aforementioned defamation suit should her forgiving nature not forgo it. And all over a matter that could have been dispensed with with nothing more than a simple apology at the time.
Maybe someday Trumplicans will come to accept into what depths of disrepute their hero has brought the "FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!" maxim. But not today.
UPDATE: Well, now, THAT didn't take long, did it?:
Ex-Breitbart reporter Michelle Fields said Wednesday night she plans to sue Donald Trump and his campaign manager Corey Lewandowski for defamation of character over an incident that occurred during a press conference last month, reports the Blaze.
If Trump had an ounce of sense, he would quietly settle this matter out of court and be done with it. But then, if he had an ounce of sense, he'd never have let his ego generate this bleepstorm in the first place, So we get to watch the hyper-litigious "mogul" be administered a taste of his own medicine.
Pass the popcorn.
UPDATE II: And THIS didn't take long in turn:
Lewandowski's lawyer says a defamation claim isn't a good idea for Michelle Fields because "it opens up a large door to her past."
Again, typical "Trumpism".
Apparently, Miss Fields was still willing to accept an apology from Lewandowski in exchange for dropping the charges, and his lawyer drew one up, but once the local prosecutor decided not to prosecute, POOF, there it went.
Inside source tells @nbcnews State attorney tried to cut deal where Lewandowski publicly apologized to Fields. (1/2)twitter.com/politico/statu…
Hardly surprising. I'm not real big on demanding apologies for that very reason. One, they're highly unlikely to be sincere, and two, they make the one demanding them sound whiny. Which is why in Miss Fields' place, I wouldn't have asked for one, but just gone for Lewandowski's jugular.
Of course, if Lewandowski had any honor or decency whatsoever, he'd have apologized five weeks ago, and we wouldn't be wading through this ongoing sewage tide. It's defamation suit or bust.
UPDATE III: Per the prosecutor this afternoon, there is "no reasonable doubt" that Lewandowski grabbed and violently yanked back on Miss Fields' arm:
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