Lewandowski attacks Newsweek report on Trump foreign ties

Former Donald Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski on Wednesday slammed a Newsweek article detailing how the Trump Organization's ties to foreign entities could harm the United States' national security if he is president.

Lewandowski, who still regularly speaks with Trump and has returned to the Republican nominee's inner orbit in recent weeks, laced into the article and its author, Kurt Eichenwald, during a panel on CNN's "New Day," referring to Eichenwald as previously reporting that "George W. Bush was directly related to 9/11." (Eichenwald, in fact, reported that Bush had been warned about an Al Qaeda determination to strike the U.S., not that he was "directly involved.")


Eichenwald's report makes reference to the Trump Organization's dealings in countries like Russia and Saudi Arabia, a point leading CNN anchor Alisyn Camerota to ask Lewandowski, a network contributor, whether Trump and his family would step away from the company if he becomes president "because of those entanglements."

"Absolutely not," Lewandowski replied.

Trump himself has repeatedly said that he would place the company in a blind trust and that his adult children would run the day-to-day operations of the organization.

Ivanka Trump, appearing on ABC's "Good Morning America," said that the company would not pursue business deals if they created the appearance of a conflict of interest.

"There's something so much bigger than our business at stake and that's the future of this country. As a private business we can make decisions that are not in our best interest. We're not beholden to anyone, to shareholders," the Trump Organization executive said. "We can say, you know what, we'll do less deals and not going to do that deal, even though it's a fine deal, it's economically reasonable because it could create a conflict of interest and we'll act incredibly responsibly. My father already said he would put it into a blind trust and it would be run by us. So he's been very articulate on that fact and outspoken, but this is so much bigger than another deal and we all recognize that."

Lewandowski went on to dismiss Eichenwald as having "zero credibility" for his reporting about Bush and adding that the reporter did not "fact check the story with the Trump Organization."

Camerota pressed, "But there are foreign deals."

"Of course there are, because he is an international businessman, because he built a $10 billion corporation," Lewandowski replied.

Asked whether foreign deals with the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, for example, would be allowed to continue, similar to questions about the Clinton Foundation, Lewandowski outright rejected the comparison.

"Do his children continue to run a $10 billion corporation that their father has built? Absolutely they do. Why wouldn’t they?" he asked, to which Camerota responded that they might be "compromised by foreign deals and foreign money coming into it."

Gesturing with both hands, Lewandowski responded, "Absolutely not."

"Donald Trump has said very clearly that he is going to go and if he is the president of the United States, he’s going to turn his company over," Lewandowski said. "What—is he just going to give up the company, is he going to fold up and unemploy 10,000 people?"

Shortly after the segment aired, Eichenwald tweeted: "Folks: Trump surrogates are apparently already attacking me. I am just a messenger. Have them dispute the facts."