Donald Trump’s former campaign manager Corey Lewandowksi on Thursday called for the New York Times’ executive editor to be jailed for releasing some pages of the President-elect’s tax returns.
Speaking at Harvard University’s Institute of Politics, Lewandowski referenced an appearance Dean Baquet made in September at the same school, where he said he would risk jail time to publish Trump’s tax returns.
“We had one of the top people at The New York Times come to Harvard University and say, ‘I’m willing to go to jail to get a copy of Donald Trump’s taxes so I can publish them.’” Lewandowski said, as quoted by Politico. “Dean Baquet came here and offered to go to jail— You’re telling me, he’s willing to commit a felony on a private citizen to post his taxes, and there isn’t enough scrutiny on the Trump campaign and his business dealings and his taxes?”
“It’s egregious,” Lewandowski said. “He should be in jail.”
Lewandowski left the Trump campaign in March but continued to receive severance pay while working as an analyst for CNN, frequently criticizing the network’s coverage of the campaign on air. When the Times did publish pages of Trump’s tax returns in October, Lewandowski said on CNN that the paper “should be held accountable and I hope he sues them into oblivion for doing this.”
Now said to be an informal adviser to Trump, Lewandowski is known for his antagonistic behavior towards the press. Earlier this year, he was charged with battery for grabbing former Breitbart reporter Michelle Fields as she tried to ask Trump a question (local prosecutors ultimately declined to pursue the charges).
