The political class barely shrugged its shoulders in August when Corey Lewandowski announced his return alongside former President Donald Trump. But when Trashelle Odom learned that Lewandowski had joined Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign as a senior adviser, it was a gut punch. Indeed, a little more than three years ago, in 2021, Odom, then the wife of a wealthy Republican donor, reported Lewandowski to the police for allegedly assaulting and stalking her during a charity event in Las Vegas . She later said her lawyers offered to pay to stay silent.
Lewandowski, who was Trump’s first campaign managerwas charged with misdemeanor battery and reached an agreement with prosecutors to dismiss the charges in exchange for community service, a $1,000 fine, enrollment in a drug control class impulses and apologies in court to Odom for “any discomfort he may have caused him.” Lewandowski was ousted from Trump’s orbit, where he led a super PAC supporting the former president. A Trump spokesperson then promised that Lewandowski “would no longer be associated with Trump world.”
In response to a request for comment, Lewandowski’s attorneys, David Chesnoff and Richard Schonfeld, said: “Lewandowski has not been charged with assault or stalking in Clark County, Nevada. In fact, the proceedings against Mr. Lewandowski were dismissed. »
Odom said her firing put her on the road to recovery. She got divorced, moved to another state, left politics and started a small business while raising her young children.
So when a friend called her last month to tell her that Lewandowski was back in the Trump fold, she told CBS News she was stunned.
“I just broke down,” she said in her first television interview since Lewandowski’s return. “I was very, very upset.” Odom said she wants others to hear her story. “He got his power back,” she said.
Lewandowski’s aggressive style and penchant for personal peccadilloes made him a eventful mandate in Trump’s orbit. But Trump remained loyal to Lewandowksi, bringing him back into his inner circle after he was fired twice, once by the campaign and once by the Make America Great Again Action super PAC.
The longtime political strategist, who once served as a New Hampshire state trooper, became known for his role in catapulting Trump — a long-shot candidate — to the White House. Since the 2016 election, he has been described as a sort of comfort pillow for Trump. He is someone who encourages the former president’s most extreme instincts, even when other aides seek to rein him in.
“Let Trump be Trump” is Lewandowski’s mantra — and the title of a book he co-wrote in 2017 with Dave Bossie, Trump’s former deputy campaign manager.
“I like him,” Trump recently told New York magazine. “Corey is a character.” Lewandowski faced scrutiny for his treatment of women almost from the start. During the 2016 campaign, video surveillance images showed him grabbing a journalist’s arm following a press conference. Footage from the video showed she had bruises on her arm. Lewandowski was charged with simple battery, but prosecutors ultimately dropped the charges.
Lewandowski’s lawyers said in response to the allegation that the case “was settled a long time ago, with Florida authorities choosing not to pursue charges after completing their investigation.”
In 2017, a woman told police that Lewandowski slapped her in the behind during a Christmas party at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, DC. She objected, according to the police report, but Lewandowski ignored her disapproval and did it again.
“It was completely humiliating and shocking,” she told Politico, but she ultimately declined to press charges.
Odom said she had hoped she would never have to publicly revisit her memories. But after learning Lewandowski had returned to Trump’s side, she told CBS News she felt compelled to come forward and tell her story. She said she wanted to “give a voice” to women who may have had similar experiences but can’t speak out.
“I want them to feel safe and I don’t want this to happen to anyone else,” she said.
She described what happened to her that evening as terrifying and at times fought back tears during the interview. Lewandowski, Odom said, made her uncomfortable from the moment she sat next to him.
“He was only aiming at me. His eyes were only on me,” she said. He quickly turned the conversation to his workout routines and bragged about his sexual prowess. “He said I should go work out with him in his room…and he told me how big his privates were and how long he stayed in bed because of how much he worked out.”
Soon, according to Odom, Lewandwowski 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.
“I felt like I was his prey,” she said. “He was very persistent, aggressive.” At one point, she said Lewandowski threw her drink at her. When she confronted him about it, “he started laughing,” Odom recalled.
Odom, now 35, was exposed to the political world through her now ex-husband, John Odom, a construction executive in Boise, Idaho, who contributed generously to the efforts of re-election of Trump. But she said she didn’t want her story to be drawn into the political maelstrom.
“I don’t want it to be about Trump. I don’t want it to be about politics,” she said.
And yet, she is speaking barely a month before the presidential election, at a time when Trump is facing a historic crisis. gender gap with his opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris. According to the latest CBS News poll, Harris leads Trump among women, 55% to 44%. Well aware of the deficit, Trump is courting female voters. He recently took to social media to argue that women would be much better off if he won the presidency, rather than Harris.
“I will protect women on a level never seen before,” he boasted on Truth Social. “They will finally be healthy, hopeful, safe and secure.”
But Trump, of course, has his own baggage when it comes to his treatment of women. Trump has been accused of sexual misconduct by as many as 20 women over the years, allegations he has denied. And last year he was held responsible for sexual abuse in a civil case brought by magazine reporter E. Jean Carroll (Trump is appealing the verdict).
Meanwhile, evidence has emerged that the Trump campaign paid the women money to bury their accusations. A July filing in a gender discrimination case against the 2016 Trump campaign included text messages from former Trump lawyer Jenna Ellis alleging that the campaign settled several sexual harassment cases. For his part, Odom revealed in his CBS News interview that Lewandowski’s lawyers offered him more than $30,000 to keep the episode confidential. She rejected the offer.
Days after Odom accused Lewandowski of sexually harassing her, she received a call from Trump, who himself was convicted in a “financial silence” case.
During their conversation, Trump claimed that Lewandowski was drunk. Odom said she appreciated the call. Donald Trump Jr. also called to express his regret for what happened to him.
“He was very nice and said things to make me feel like Corey wouldn’t be here anymore,” Odom said.
The Trump campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
Since Lewandowki returned, he has been given a public role, defending Trump and delivering the campaign’s message in multiple television interviews. He was not asked about Odom’s accusation. Odom, for her part, never wanted to go on television to talk about what happened to her that night in Las Vegas, but she said she felt she had no choice. She thinks Lewandowski hasn’t changed.
“If I can give just a little bit to one person, it’s worth talking about,” she said through tears.
