Alicia Machado denied the allegations at the time. | AP Photo Lewandowski dredges up prior attempted murder case against former Miss Universe

Former Donald Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski attacked Hillary Clinton’s campaign on Thursday for bringing former Miss Universe winner Alicia Machado into the political spotlight, raising a nearly two-decade old allegation that the former beauty queen was involved in an attempted murder case in her native Venezuela.

Lewandowski, a paid contributor to CNN who until recently was still receiving severance checks from the Trump campaign, defended his former employer’s decision to attack Clinton over her treatment of the women her husband Bill Clinton allegedly had extramarital sexual relationships with. But he quickly pivoted to Machado, who Trump called “Miss Piggy” and “Miss Housekeeping” during her tenure as Miss Universe, seeking to invalidate her attacks against the Manhattan billionaire by recalling her involvement in a criminal investigation.


“Hillary Clinton attacks the victims is what she did. She attacked the victims and she doesn't want to talk about that,” Lewandowski said on CNN’s “New Day.” “Here's what they did: The Clinton campaign took a person and brought her into a debate who has been part of a murder. We know that. True. Has threatened a federal judge.”

The investigation to which Lewandowski referred dates back to 1997, after she was crowned Miss Universe. According to Politifact and various news reports, Machado was accused of being the getaway driver for her boyfriend, who was accused of shooting at and wounding his brother in law at a memorial service. Charges against Machado were dropped in January of 1998 because of a lack of evidence.

Months later, the judge who had overseen the case accused Machado of calling him to make threats against his life. Machado denied the allegations at the time, and when asked about the entire episode by CNN’s Anderson Cooper on Tuesday, the former Miss Universe said “I have my past. Of course, everybody has a past. And I’m not a saint girl. But that is not the point now.”

On “New Day” Thursday morning, anchor Alisyn Camerota immediately challenged Lewandowski’s assertion that Machado had been involved in an attempted murder plot, stating that she was “never charged, never indicted, never convicted.”

“Listen these are 20-year-old things but sure, I hear you. So you’re saying her story should be discounted,” she said. “Fine, that’s your take. Alicia Machado’s story should be discounted because of what you say is in her past.”