Singer Joy Villa has filed a sexual assault report with the D.C. Metropolitan Police against former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski.
Villa, a vocal Trump supporter, accused Lewandowski last week of inappropriately touching her at a holiday party at the Trump International Hotel. Politico confirmed that Villa filed a report Saturday, and that the paperwork is currently pending.
“I’m wearing this silver suit and stretchy pants, and after the photo, he smacks my ass really hard,” Villa told Politico. “It was completely demeaning and shocking.”
She told Politico that she had intended to file a sexual harassment claim, but spoke with a detective who told her that the alleged incident was assault and should be filed as such.
“The detective I talked to said that sexual harassment is what happens in the workforce,” Villa told Politico. “The detective told me, ‘what you describe happened to you is sexual assault.’”
Lewandowski did not respond to Politico’s multiple requests for comment. The Hill has also reached out to him for comment.
{mosads}Villa, who made headlines when she wore a “Make America Great Again” dress to the Grammy Awards, told Politico that she warned Lewandowski after the incident that she could report his behavior, to which she said he responded, “Go ahead, I work in the private sector.”
Villa told Politico that she was concerned that Lewandowski would “badmouth” her if she came forward with the accusations. She is currently pursuing a congressional bid in Florida.
“I feared that [filing a claim] could backfire on me,” she told Politico on Tuesday. “Ten times out of 10 the woman gets blamed no matter what.”
Lewandowski was charged last year after a reporter accused him of violently grabbing her arm at a Trump campaign rally. The simple battery charges were dropped by Florida authorities.