A woman who worked for Republican Rep. Jeff Van Drew has been charged after allegedly staging a bizarre fake crime where she paid someone to assault her and write “TRUMP WHORE” on her own zip-tied body.
Natalie Greene, 26, a Rutgers law student, appeared in federal court on Wednesday, charged with one count of conspiracy to convey false statements and hoaxes and one count of making false statements to federal law enforcement in connection with a staged attack.
Greene worked as a constituent services representative for Van Drew, who has represented New Jersey’s 2nd congressional district since 2019.
According to the criminal complaint, on July 23, Greene and a female co-conspirator allegedly called 911 to report that Greene had been attacked by three men on a walking trail in the Egg Harbor Nature Reserve.
The co-conspirator has not been named by the U.S Attorney’s Office, but she told emergency service workers the attackers knew Greene’s name and referenced her job with Van Drew.
“They were attacking her. They were like talking about politics and stuff. They were like calling her names,” she allegedly told the operator.
“They were like calling her like racist, calling her a whore,” she added.
When officers found Greene, she was lying with her hands and feet zip tied, and her shirt pulled over her head. She was crying loudly and yelling “he has a gun, he has a gun.” She had cuts on her body and the phrase “TRUMP WHORE” written across her stomach and Van Drew “IS RACIST” on her back.
Greene claimed her attackers had a gun and threatened to shoot her as they restrained her movement, cut her face, neck, back and shoulder and wrote the slurs on her body. She repeated the story to other officials, including an FBI investigator.
However after receiving treatment in hospital for her wounds, FBI interviews with Greene and the co-conspirator did not match.
Investigators claim Greene had paid a body modification artist who specialized in scarification $500 to cut her body using a scalpel, following a pattern she had provided them with in advance. Authorities also found zip ties, similar to the ones she had been bound with, in her Maserati on the night of the incident. Her vehicle also contained a roll of duct tape.
The co-conspirator had searched “zip ties near me” on her phone two days before the incident. A search of Greene’s phone revealed her Reddit profile that included “followed communities” for “bodymods” and “scarification.”
Greene was released on a $200,000 unsecured bond and additional conditions after making her first appearance in federal court on Wednesday.
Each count she is charged with carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison.
A spokesperson for Van Drew said in a statement “We are deeply saddened by today’s news, and while Natalie is no longer associated with the Congressman’s government office, our thoughts and prayers are with her. We hope she’s getting the care she needs.”
The Daily Beast has contacted Van Drew’s office for additional comment.
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