Former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski told TMZ that while he never got into a physical altercation with White House chief of staff John Kelly, as was reported, he could take on the 68-year old retired general in a fight.
Secret Service Intervened In White House Fight
“An argument last February between the White House chief of staff, John F. Kelly, and Corey Lewandowski, an informal adviser to President Trump, turned into a physical altercation that required Secret Service intervention just outside the Oval Office,” the New York Times reports.
“The episode, details of which have not been previously reported, is the latest illustration of the often chaotic atmosphere Mr. Trump is willing to tolerate in the White House as well as a reflection of the degree to which Mr. Kelly’s temper can be provoked.”
“The near brawl — during which Mr. Kelly grabbed Mr. Lewandowski by the collar and tried to have him ejected from the West Wing — came at a time when the chief of staff was facing uncertainty about how long Mr. Trump would keep him in his job. A guessing game over his departure has colored his tenure ever since.”
Lewandowski Says Only Bloomberg Could Challenge Trump
Former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski told the New York Post that former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg is the “only one” who would be competitive with Trump in 2020 “because he’s a job creator, has widespread name ID, boundless money and isn’t saddled with Washington baggage.”
Said Lewandowski: “If I were a Democrat strategist… and somebody said to me ‘who do you want to be the Democrat nominee for president of the United States?’ there’s only one name I would choose … and his name is Michael Bloomberg.”
Quote of the Day
“Womp womp.”
— Former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, on Fox News, after it was mentioned that a 10-year-old girl with Down Syndrome was separated from her mother at the border.
Pence Hires Lewandowski for Midterms
“Corey Lewandowski, who helped Donald Trump win the Republican nomination, is getting back in the campaign game,” Fox News reports.
“He is joining Vice President Pence’s political action committee, which will enable him to travel with the VP and puts him firmly back in the president’s 2020 reelection orbit.”
Lewandowski Will Travel with Trump for Midterms
“Lewandowski in recent months has been encouraged to repair relationships with officials at the RNC, whose work he had previously trashed, in order to become more involved in the party’s 2018 strategy,” a source told BuzzFeed News.
“Lewandowski’s cameo at the Michigan rally was not a one-off, spontaneous event, according to a source close to the president who is involved in 2018 strategy. The plan is to have the former campaign manager travel more with the president for rallies ahead of November’s elections. He’s already made some appearances at events with Vice President Mike Pence, as he travels the country selling the tax code overhaul to voters.”
Lewandowski Says He Didn’t Hire Cambridge Analytica
Former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski told NBC News that he never approved Cambridge Analytica’s contract.
Said Lewandowski: “They did not work for the campaign when I was the manager… They pitched me three times, three times I said no. They did not come to the campaign until after I left.”
He also said he had not been subpoenaed by special counsel Robert Mueller: “I can say that during my tenure… which is all I can speak to, I saw no Russians.”
Lewandowski Spoke to Data Firm Before Announcement
Christopher Wylie, a former employee of British-based company Cambridge Analytica, told NBC News that the company misused personal Facebook data of some 50 million people.
Said Wylie: “I left Cambridge Analytica before it joined the Trump campaign. What I do know is that Cambridge Analytica was meeting with Corey Lewandowski in 2015 before Trump had even announced.”
Kelly Eyes Lewandowski Warily
Playbook: “Tension between White House chief of staff John Kelly’s office and Trump’s former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski is escalating over his ongoing access and influence over Trump. Sources close to the White House say Kelly’s team believes Lewandowski does more harm than good at this point and needs to be cut off.”
Trump Aides Blamed Lewandowski for Porter ‘Smear’
White House officials told Sen. Orrin Hatch’s (R-UT) office that the story that White House staff secretary Rob Porter had abused his two ex-wives was the product of a “smear campaign” being orchestrated against Porter by his political enemies, the Daily Beast reports.
“Among those they pinpointed was former Trump campaign manager (and current outside adviser to the president) Corey Lewandowski… Multiple White House staffers told Hatch himself that Lewandowski ‘was digging into Rob’s previous marriages,’ recalled one source, who said Porter himself was among the officials who fingered Lewandowski.”
[alert type=”general” dismiss=”no”]The backstory: Porter is currently romantically-involved with White House communications director Hope Hicks, who previously dated Lewandowski.[/alert]
Lewandowski to Testify Before House Intelligence
“Corey Lewandowski is scheduled to take questions next week from congressional investigators looking into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin,” the Daily Beast reports.
“Lewandowski is one of several witnesses the House intelligence committee plans to interview as part of its Trump-Russia investigation. Reached for comment, Lewandowski indicated he will take questions, rather than pleading the fifth as other witnesses have done.”
Lewandowski Declined Job Offer from Trump
Daily Beast: “Trump had asked if he wanted a job that would place him in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, across the way from the West Wing… According to two people who spoke with Lewandowski, he ‘strongly’ considered taking the gig, in hopes of getting to serve Trump in an official capacity once more. However, he came to the conclusion that the job wasn’t senior enough, telling friends that it was ‘beneath him.’”
Lewandowski Appears to Be Working as a Lobbyist Again
Politico: “Months after Corey Lewandowski, Donald Trump’s former campaign manager, quit the lobbying firm he co-founded after the 2016 election, he appears to be working with a new one, reviving questions about whether he is still cashing in on his relationship with the president. The firm, Turnberry Solutions LLC — a name that calls to mind Trump Turnberry, the president’s Scottish golf resort — is staffed by two lobbyists who worked for Lewandowski’s old firm.”
“While Lewandowski has denied any link to the firm, there’s plenty of evidence to the contrary. Lewandowski was on a recent conference call between Turnberry and one of its clients, according to the client, and Turnberry also created an email address with his first name on it.”
Lewandowski Accused of Threatening His Neighbors
“Neighbors of President Trump’s former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski say he harassed them in a land dispute and threatened to use his ‘’political clout’’ to make their lives ‘’a nightmare,'” the Boston Globe reports.
Corey Lewandowski Has Been Fired Again
“Three sources with knowledge of the situation tell the Daily Beast that the former Trump campaign manager and current informal adviser to the president has been let go from One America News Network, a pro-Trump cable channel pitching itself as an aspiring Fox News.”
“Lewandowski angered OANN leadership with his frequent appearances on Fox and other competitors, which one former OANN employee described as ‘a big no-no’ with the channel’s leadership. Senior staff at the network knew it was likely that Lewandowski would do other network appearances, but things came to a head when it began to appear that Lewandowski was giving more attention to competitors than his employer.”
Quote of the Day
“Anybody who thinks they’re going to change Donald Trump doesn’t know Donald Trump.”
— Former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, in an interview on NBC News.
Lewandowski Shopping Book Proposal Again
CNN: “It was not clear what Lewandowski’s book would be about. A proposal wasn’t submitted, likely to avoid details leaking to the public, the source added. Lewandowski previously had an offer from HarperCollins worth $1.2 million, but lost it over concerns about a nondisclosure agreement he signed during the campaign, Politico reported last June. This time around, however, publishers were told Lewandowski had been able to obtain a waiver of the nondisclosure agreement, one of the sources familiar with the matter said.”
Quote of the Day
“When you have a communications team, they have to have that relationship with the president to understand how he communicates. Because he is the greatest communicator, as a president, we’ve ever had. He’s better than the staff. He knows the media better.”
— Corey Lewandowski, quoted by Politico, arguing that Trump needs more staff who have a preexisting relationship with him.
White House Looking for ‘War Room’ Space
Playbook: “The White House is scouting office space for the much-speculated about new White House ‘war room’ in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building next to the White House. (There isn’t much open office space in the West Wing these days.) The war room would manage fallout from the scandals engulfing the Trump administration. Corey Lewandowski — one of the potential hires for the war room — has been spotted in and around the White House in recent days.”
Trump May Tap Lewandowski for Crisis Management
“The White House is looking to wall off the scandals threatening to overtake the president’s agenda by building a separate crisis management operation,” Politico reports.
“President Trump personally reached out to two of his former campaign aides – his first campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, and his deputy campaign manager, David Bossie – to sound them out about working with the administration as crisis managers.”
