WASHINGTON — The Florida prosecutor handling the case against Donald Trump’s campaign manager was revealed Wednesday to be a member of Hillary Clinton’s “Leadership Council” in the Sunshine State — and shelled out $1,000 to her campaign in January, records show.
The lawman’s potential bias and conflict of interest came to light as the tussle between Trump’s senior aide Corey Lewandowski and reporter Michelle Fields became even more of a polarizing circus.
Female journalists have now thrown their support behind Fields, who was working for the conservative Breitbart News when she says Lewandowski manhanded her at a Trump event on March 8.
Meanwhile, one of Trump’s harshest Republican critics defended the real-estate mogul, calling the case a complete joke.
Palm Beach County State Attorney Dave Aronberg, a longtime Democrat who served in the Florida state Senate for eight years beginning in 2002, has been an official member of Team Clinton since November.
His office will decide whether to prosecute Lewandowski, 41, who on Tuesday was charged by cops in Jupiter, Fla., for grabbing Fields, 28, by the arm.
Asked on CNN Wednesday if the charge might have been politically motivated, Trump didn’t rule it out and criticized the police for making the arrest.
“It could be. I don’t know. Look, I’ll tell you what: a friend of mine who’s in law enforcement said to me, there’s probably not a detective in the world that would have done what they did to him,” he said.
Told that the Harvard-educated Aronberg was a Democrat, Trump sarcastically added, “Oh, really? Oh, I’m shocked to hear that.”
Aronberg initially refused to discuss the potential conflict-of-interest in pursuing Lewandowski.
“It’s an inappropriate request and we’re not responding to it,” Aronberg spokesman Mike Edmonson told the Boston Herald.
But the prosecutor later issued a statement saying he had nothing to do with the arrest.
“Our office has taken no action against Mr. Lewandowski. The matter was investigated and charged by the Jupiter Police Department, not this office,” he wrote.
Meanwhile, a group of 16 female journalists issued an open letter Wednesday calling for the firing of Lewandowski.
“The press is to have an adversarial, yet civil approach to those in, or running, for elected office,” the statement reads. “Never in this line of work is it acceptable to respond to reasonable and legitimate questioning with use of physical force.”
The journalists who signed the letter are largely, if not universally, conservative, including CNN contributor S.E. Cupp and Meghan McCain, the daughter of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.).
But Long Island Rep. Peter King, a Republican who has bashed Trump in the past, rushed to his rescue this time, questioning why cops were brought in to handle such a minor matter.
“If you’re in the middle of a political scrum, these things happen,” King said.
Meanwhile, the union representing US Border Patrol agents endorsed Trump, the first time it has backed a candidate in a presidential primary.
“If we do not secure our borders, American communities will continue to suffer,” the union said.
With Wisconsin looming as the next battleground on Tuesday, a Marquette University Law School poll showed 40 percent of likely GOP primary voters there supporting Ted Cruz, compared with 30 percent for Trump and 21 percent for John Kasich.