The state attorney considering whether to prosecute Donald Trump’s campaign manager for battery backs Hillary Clinton for president, was a classmate of Ted Cruz, and was friendly with Marco Rubio in the Florida legislature.

But Palm Beach County State Attorney David Aronberg, a Democrat up for reelection this year, insists that politics will play no role in the decision.


“Our loyalty is to justice and not politics,” Aronberg tells POLITICO. “We keep politics outside the confines of this office.”

Try as he might, though, Aronberg can’t escape the political nature of the case against Trump’s campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski.

The case is simply rooted in it: A political campaign manager is accused of unlawfully battering a political reporter trying to interview a political figure at a political event. The national political press is paying close attention. So are outraged Trump supporters. Aronberg has been threatened on Twitter, his home address posted.

Put it all together and, lawyers say, the political dynamics could affect a trial’s proceedings, the likelihood of a conviction and, therefore, Aronberg’s decision to prosecute what is otherwise a minor charge: misdemeanor battery with no serious injuries.

“I’ve known Dave for years and he’s going to interpret the law fairly, but ultimately – not because it’s Donald Trump and because the prosecutor is a Democrat – does the state attorney’s office want to get involved with something that’s going to turn out to be a political prosecution?” asked Brian Tannebaum, a South Florida criminal defense lawyer and author of The Practice: Brutal Truths About Lawyers and Lawyering.

“As [prosecutors] consider whether to move forward they’re going to ask themselves: ‘How am I going to pick a jury? Who has an opinion about Mr. Trump?’ How are they going to pick six impartial people?” Tannebaum noted.

Trump’s campaign and Lewandowski’s legal team wouldn’t comment, but Trump hasn’t been silent. On the campaign trail, Twitter and in high-profile cable appearances, Trump has questioned the veracity of the reporter, Michelle Fields, who lodged the complaint against Lewandowski that resulted in a police citation for battery.

During an interview with Trump on Monday, FOX’s Sean Hannity described Aronberg – who contributed $1,000 to Clinton’s campaign and is on her 150-member Florida Leadership Council – as a “Hillary prosecutor.” Trump said nothing. The Drudge Report last week blared a headline that read: “COREY PROSECUTOR OUTED AS HILLARY SUPPORTER.”

Trump’s highest-profile backer in Florida before the March 15 primary he won, Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, vouched for Aronberg, a former state senator who lost a Democratic primary for attorney general in 2010. He then worked in the Republican’s office on prescription-drug issues before he was elected to his independent Palm Beach county office in 2012.

“When Dave Aronberg worked for me in the fight against Florida’s drug epidemic, he always operated with the highest ethical standards in a completely nonpartisan manner,” she told POLITICO in a written statement.

Aronberg’s friendship with the Republican has led some Democrats to gripe that he’s not a loyal partisan. As the Palm Beach Post pointed out, Aronberg has won plaudits from local Republicans for the way he has managed his office and he even stopped by a Bondi fundraiser in 2014 when she ran for reelection against Democrat George Sheldon.

Aronberg, who has drawn no political opponent yet, said party affiliation has no role in determining whether a battery occurred and whether or not the case should go forward on the belief that a jury would likely convict Lewandowski. He said the prosecutor in charge of this case is a no-party-affiliation voter and that other prosecutors in his office are Republicans.

“You run on a political party, but once you’re elected, politics does not play a part in our decision-making,” Aronberg said. “In my career, I’ve always worked in a bipartisan manner to do the right thing.”

Aronberg coincidentally knew presidential candidate and Texas U.S. Sen. Cruz when the two attended Harvard Law School at the same time. He was also friendly with Rubio in the Florida Legislature, where Aronberg was one of the few Democrats to chair a committee in the GOP-held state senate because of his bipartisan reputation. The site Gossip Extra pointed out that Aronberg’s wife, Lynn, was photographed with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago club during the local policeman’s ball gala.

Corey Lewandowski faces battery charges for grabbing a reporter. | Getty

But Aronberg said he and his wife don’t know the Trumps.

“We don’t go out socially,” he said with a laugh. “We were at an event with 800 other people.”

Palm Beach County is also a proving ground of politically sensitive cases. Aronberg’s predecessors as prosecutors in the county also dealt with high-profile cases involving those coincidentally friendly with Trump: conservative commentators and county residents Rush Limbaugh, who committed prescription-drug fraud, and Ann Coulter, who was investigated but never charged for alleged voting fraud.

Many high-profile political cases wind up in the state capital in Tallahassee, where State Attorney Willie Meggs says the politics always make the cases more challenging. No matter what a prosecutor does, he said, politics almost dictates that half of the people will find fault with it.

Said Meggs: “I’m going to use a North Florida redneck analogy when it comes to getting these kinds of cases. It’s like putting a big spoon of hot soup in your mouth. No matter what you do from that point on, it’s wrong. If you spit out the soup, it’s wrong because it makes a mess. And if you swallow the soup, it’s wrong because your burn your throat. You’re just going to be wrong in the eyes of some people.”

Meggs said all a prosecutor can do is “tune that out” and apply the law. He described a two-step process to decide whether to prosecute: “You have to believe there was a crime. And then you have to reasonably believe you can get a conviction. That’s what the law says.”

Aronberg has already had to tune out some Trump supporters who were outraged after Jupiter police last week cited Lewandowski. The criticism of Aronberg came within hours of the police decision even though he and his office made no decision yet on whether to prosecute the case. He said they played no role in the police department’s independent decision.

One anonymous Twitter user, before his account was suspended, doxed Aronberg by posting his home address, his wife’s name and trashed a friend of his as a “kike.”

“@aronberg @FredMenachem someones heading to your house right now Dave. lmao [sic],” the person wrote.

Aronberg took the viciousness in stride.

“I’ve obviously had more attention on this matter than anything else I’ve done,” Aronberg said. “But as far as hostility, it’s part of the job. You’re going to get hostility. Even when you’re dealing with smaller cases, you’re going to get some of the same hostility. The difference is the amount, the scope of it. But as far as nasty emails and messages, that comes with the territory.”

In this case, the politics come with the territory as well.

CORRECTION: A previous version incorrectly identified whom Palm Beach County State Attorney David Aronberg backed in Florida’s 2010 attorney general’s race. He supported Democrat Dan Gelber.