As former President Donald Trump entered his final weeks in office to campaignrocky relations between rival factions of his campaign leadership have become more difficult, with sources telling CBS News that his controversial adviser Corey Lewandowski was “put in a box” – and reassigned to focus on New Hampshire.
Even though Lewandowski continued to journey With the former president in battleground states, Trump told his 2016 campaign co-manager during a recent campaign trip that his “only goal is to win New Hampshire,” these sources said to CBS News, asking not to be named because they were not authorized to do so. talk about internal campaign movements.
A source close to the campaign called Lewandowski a “smart but disruptive political operative” for a team led by Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita, which has largely banded together with a unified goal: winning in November. Even though Lewandowski has reportedly been sidelined by Trump, the source said, that doesn’t mean he’s out completely. In Trump’s world, anyone can be replaced and anyone can be brought back when needed.
The move was first reported by The Guardian, which said Lewandowski had caused resentment within the campaign by threatening to take over the Trump campaign and leading an audit into co-chairman Chris’s handling of campaign funds. La Civita. Sources told CBS News that the audit threat led to a power struggle between Lewandowski and LaCivita.
Lewandowski disputed the notion that his role had been diminished, writing via text message last week: “Not accurate. I will be with President Trump all weekend and for the next 23 days.”
He then called and told CBS News that he was a campaign volunteer and always had been. “My job is to help make America great again and help President Trump get elected,” Lewandowski said.
Lewandowski is a dynamic figure with a reputation for bare-knuckle campaigning. His approach is to “let Trump be Trump,” whatever that brings. And on a personal level, during his years on the national political stage, he has faced a series of accusations of harassment dating back to the former president’s first campaign. One of those accusers, Trashelle Odom, spoke to CBS News last week in his first television interview about the incident.
“I just broke down,” she said upon learning of Lewandowski’s return to Trump’s inner circle. “I was very, very upset.” Odom also expressed concerns about what might happen to other women now that he “has his power back.”
In 2021, Odom, then the wife of a wealthy Republican donor, was attending a charity event at a Las Vegas hotel when she found herself seated next to Lewandowski who she said had targeted her that night .
“I felt like I was his prey,” she said. Soon, according to Odom, Lewandowski began touching her. “He was putting his hands, like, on my knees,” and he tried to “just caress my leg and go up my side and try to touch my butt.” She said that as she left the dinner, Lewandowski followed her through the hotel.
Odom reported Lewandowski to the police, and he was charged with misdemeanor battery, but later made a deal with prosecutors to dismiss the charges in exchange for community service, a $1,000 fine , enrollment in an impulse control course, and an apology in court to Odom for “any discomfort he may have caused her.”
Asked for comment, Lewandowski’s lawyers said the case had been dismissed, but they did not respond to Odom’s allegations.
But years before Odom met Lewandowski, he faced other accusations, including from a woman who told police he “slapped her butt against her will and without her consent” during a Christmas party at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, DC. The woman then refused. to pursue charges.
In another episode, Lewandowski was seen on CCTV grabbing a reporter’s arm after a press conference in Florida. Following their investigation, authorities chose not to charge him, a point reiterated by his lawyers interviewed by CBS News.
New scrutiny of Lewandowski’s history with women comes as the Trump campaign tries to attract female voters. A recent CBS News Poll showed that among likely voters who are women, Harris has a 9-point advantage nationally.
