Files assault claim....

Pro-Trump singer files assault claim against Lewandowski over butt-slap incident

By ANNIE KARNI

The woman accusing President Donald Trump’s former campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, of unwanted touching at a Trump International Hotel party last month has filed a sexual assault report with the Metropolitan Police Department detailing the incident.

Joy Villa, 31, a singer and Trump supporter who is exploring a congressional bid in Florida, says Lewandowski slapped her on the butt hard, twice – even after she voiced an objection.

Villa said she provided the names of two eyewitnesses to the police department when she filed her report the day before Christmas, after POLITICO published details of her account.

She said that she told a detective she wanted to file a sexual harassment claim – but was informed that the incident she was describing was considered a misdemeanor and that it belonged with the sex assault unit.

“The detective I talked to said that sexual harassment is what happens in the workforce,” Villa said in an interview on Tuesday. “The detective told me, ‘what you describe happened to you is sexual assault.’”

Villa said she is planning a trip to Washington to meet with investigators.

Villa provided POLITICO with her case number. A Metropolitan Police Department spokeswoman confirmed that case number had been filed as a sexual assault and said the paperwork was still pending, waiting for approval from a ranking officer.

Lewandowski did not respond to phone calls, emails or text messages.

Villa, who made headlines last year for wearing a “Make America Great Again” dress to the Grammys, says she was introduced to Lewandowski by a mutual friend at an invite-only party in late November thrown by the Trump campaign to celebrate the president's first year in office and was pushed toward him to pose for a photograph.

“I’m wearing this silver suit and stretchy pants, and after the photo, he smacks my ass really hard,” Villa told POLITICO in an exclusive interview last week. “It was completely demeaning and shocking.”

When she confronted Lewandowski and told him that she could accuse him of sexual harassment, Lewandowski laughed it off. “He said, ‘Go ahead, I work in the private sector,’” Villa recalled last week. “Then he smacks my ass again.”

Asked why she waited almost a month to speak out and file a claim, Villa said on Tuesday: “I feared that it could backfire on me. Ten times out of 10 the woman gets blamed no matter what.”

Villa said she was at first hesitant to share her story, in part because Lewandowski is married and has children. She said she was also embarrassed for her own family to have to read about the incident. But after a friend who witnessed the episode shared the story with POLITICO last week, she decided to go public with her story.

The friend wished to remain anonymous but confirmed Villa’s account to POLITICO. Villa said the person who snapped the photo of her and Lewandowski is the second witness whose name she provided to the police.

Villa is being advised on her potential congressional bid by longtime Trump confidant Roger Stone.