LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — An ex-adviser to former President Donald Trump is accused of repeatedly touching a GOP donor – including on her buttocks and thigh – at a Las Vegas event, leading to a plea agreement where the case could be dismissed, documents the 8 News Now Investigators obtained Thursday revealed.
Corey Lewandowski faces a charge of misdemeanor battery connected to the September 2021 incident. If Lewandowski completes counseling and community service, the charge will be dismissed, court records showed.
The allegations stem from a reported incident at the Westgate Hotel and Casino involving a donor to the former president, Trashelle Odom. While Odom has publicly acknowledged the allegations since last year, her name is redacted in the report.
Odom’s attorney first filed a report with police in Idaho, where Odom lives, alleging Lewandowski “made multiple inappropriate, aggressive, violent and unwanted sexual comments” and “intentionally touched [his client’s] butt, hand, back and leg” while at a dinner, police wrote in the report.
South Dakota Republican Gov. Kristi Noem, Lewandowski and Odom attended the dinner, which police described as a VIP event for Republican donors and others identified as people “involved in politics and in elected government positions,” the report said.
The report indicates the two dozen people met for dinner at the Benihana restaurant in the hotel. Odom and Lewandowski sat next to each other, police said.
“[Redacted] explained that Corey was very vocal about how powerful he is in the political world and that he was an advisor to former President Trump,” police wrote about their interview with Odom. “Corey told [redacted] that he can ‘destroy anyone,’ that he can get anyone into office, and that he can get anyone out of office.”
Odom told investigators the conversation turned to Lewandowski’s workout habits.
“Corey then rubbed [redacted’s] right upper thigh and buttocks with his hand over her clothing in an up-and-down and ‘back and forth’ motion,” police said. “Corey told [redacted] that he is ‘always sore here,’ while touching [redacted] on the described area. Corey then commented that he ‘lasts eight hours in bed.’”
Lewandowski then mentioned Noem was “hot” and told Odom which room he was staying in, police said. He asked Odom if she wanted to work out together, to which she replied, “No,” police said. Police said Lewandowski then told her he was from “a ‘bad area’ in Boston and that he has ‘killed a few people.’”
“[Redacted] tried to laugh this off and Corey then turned ‘serious,’ and he elaborated that when he was 10 years old, he stabbed someone numerous times, and when he was older, he stabbed someone in the back of the head,” police wrote in the report.
At this point in the reported conversation, Odom began feeling “scared” and “started thinking about how to get out of the situation without any ‘backlash’ and without her family being hurt by anything she said or did,’” police wrote in the report.
“[Redacted] recalled a specific incident while she and Corey were seated next to each other and she had a napkin placed on her lap and covering her legs,” police wrote. “Corey reached over, removed the napkin from her lap, aggressively threw it on the table, and he placed his hand on [her] upper thigh,” police said.
Odom later sent a group message to other dinner attendees with the text, “WTF,” police said.
The group then moved to a suite at the hotel for a scheduled auction for the Victoria’s Voice Foundation, police said. While there, police said Noem told a person at the auction, “I text [sic] Corey to stop touching you,” police wrote in the report.
The next day, a person, whose name is redacted in the report, received a phone call from another party attendee, saying “Corey also grabbed her butt.” The person also told the person that “she had a lot to learn” and “to stay quiet about the incidents,” police wrote in the report. Because Odom’s name is redacted in some parts of the report, it is unclear if the person in this exchange is in fact, Odom.
Two days after the event, police said Odom received a text from a person believed to be a representative for Lewandowski. It said in part, “You are all so wonderful and I’m truly horrified and so sorry you had to deal with what you did.”
Several witnesses told police that Odom appeared uncomfortable during the reported incident and at the party afterward, documents said.
Detectives with Las Vegas Metro police later impounded the dress and shoes Odom was wearing. In December 2021, police retrieved a DNA sample from Lewandowski at his attorney’s office. Detectives said they wanted to compare the sample with a portion of Odom’s dress.
In February, police said they found the DNA profiles of several people on the dress, including two men.
Investigators said Lewandowski was previously accused of “striking a female on her buttocks, two times, during a party in Washington, D.C., in 2017,” but the district attorney declined to press charges, documents said.
Part of the dinner was filmed for the Victoria’s Voice Foundation. A grand jury later approved a subpoena for video recordings and records from the event from the foundation, police said. One clip showed Lewandowski and Odom sitting next to each other but nothing “obviously sexual or obviously inappropriate” was in the videos, police said.
Lewandowski and Noem declined to be interviewed by police, investigators said.
“A misdemeanor case was filed but we are pleased to say the matter has been resolved,” Lewandowski’s attorneys David Chesnoff and Richard Schonfeld said in a statement to the Associated Press. “The court set conditions that Mr. Lewandowski will fulfill, and the case will ultimately be dismissed.”
Lewandowski does not admit any wrongdoing as part of the plea agreement and the charge could be dismissed within a year.
Lewandowski was removed from his position as chairman of a political action committee tied to the former president in the days after the allegations became public. Noem also cut ties with Lewandowski soon after, reports indicated.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
