Kellyanne Conway, White House counselor to President Donald Trump, said in an interview that she was grabbed and shaken by a woman in a Maryland restaurant in October while her middle school-aged daughter watched, CNN reported Friday.
Conway said that the woman, later identified as Mary Elizabeth Inabinett, 63, approached her, "screaming her head off," at Uncle Julio's, a Mexican restaurant in Bethesda. Conway called 911 after the incident, CNN reported.
Inabinett, who has denied the charges, was charged in November with second-degree assault and disorderly conduct, CNN reported. A trial is set for March in Maryland state court. Her lawyer said Inabinett would plead not guilty to the charges, the network reported.
According to Conway, "Somebody was grabbing me from behind, grabbing my arms, and was shaking me to the point where I felt maybe somebody was hugging me.”
"She was out of control. I don't even know how to explain her to you. She was just, her whole face was terror and anger," Conway told CNN. "She was right here, and my daughter was right there. She ought to pay for that."
William Alden McDaniel Jr., who is representing Inabinett, disputed the allegations.
"Ms. Inabinett saw Kellyanne Conway, a public figure, in a public place, and exercised her First Amendment right to express her personal opinions.” McDaniel said in a statement. “The facts at trial will show this to be true, and show Ms. Conway's account to be false.”
Conway is not the first member of Trump's staff to face alleged harassment. In June, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders was asked to leave a Virginia restaurant by its owner. Days before, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen was taunted by protesters as she ate at a Mexican restaurant in Washington, D.C.
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