Natalie Greene, 26, is accused of faking an attack and paying $500 to a body modification artist. Photo / Department of Justice
Natalie Greene, 26, is accused of faking an attack and paying $500 to a body modification artist. Photo / Department of Justice
In the US, a former Republican Party staffer has been accused of faking a gruesome attack that left her with scars over her body and the words “Trump whore” scrawled on her stomach.
Natalie Greene, 26, claimed to have been walking on a nature trail in New Jersey in Julywhen she was held at gunpoint by three men who held her down and mutilated her before leaving her bound in the woods.
However, authorities say Greene faked the attack.
She is now accused of paying a body modification artist based in Pennsylvania $500 to deliberately carve the cuts into her face, neck, chest and shoulder based on a pattern that she provided in advance.
Photos taken from her hospital bed, released by the US Attorney’s Office, show a series of deep cuts criss-crossing each other on the right side of her body.
The words “Trump whore” were written on her stomach and “Van Drew is a racist” was scrawled on her back in capital letters, according to the New Jersey Globe.
Greene claimed one or more of her attackers had held her down, cutting her and writing on her body. Photo / Department of Justice
According to local reporting, Greene is a Rutgers University law student who worked for Jeff Van Drew, a New Jersey congressman.
An individual who allegedly conspired with Greene to fake the attack claimed the three men knew the Republican aide by name and had referred to her work for Van Drew.
“They were talking about politics … They were like calling her like racist, calling her a whore,” the alleged accomplice told a 911 operator, according to a transcript provided with court documents.
Greene is alleged to have paid a body modification artist to cut her after she had provided a pattern. Photo / Department of Justice
When police found Greene, she was lying in a wooded area a short distance from the nature trail, with her hands and feet bound together with black zip ties and her shirt pulled over her head.
According to court documents, she was crying and shouting: “He has a gun, he has a gun.”
In Greene’s car, officers recovered zip ties similar to those which had been used to tie her, and found her alleged accomplice had searched for “zip ties near me” online two days before the supposed attack.
Greene was discovered crying and bound by zip ties in a New Jersey nature preserve. Photo / Department of Justice
According to LegiStorm, a Congress-focused research organisation, Greene worked for Van Drew twice as an intern in 2021 and 2023. In June 2024, she was appointed as his constituent advocate director.
Greene, who repeated her story to the police and FBI, has been charged with one count of conspiracy to convey false statements and hoaxes and one count of making false statements to federal officers.
Each of the charges carries a maximum penalty of five years’ imprisonment, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release.
Natalie Greene faces charges of conspiracy and making false statements, each carrying up to five years' imprisonment. Photo / Department of Justice
Van Drew’s office told the New Jersey Globe they were “deeply saddened” by the news.
“While Natalie is no longer associated with the congressman’s government office, our thoughts and prayers are with her and hope she’s getting the care she needs,” the statement read.
Greene’s lawyer said in a statement: “At the age of 26 my client served her community working fulltime to assist the constituents of the congressman with loyalty and fidelity. She did that while being a fulltime student.
“Under the law, she is presumed innocent and reserves all of her defences for presentation in a court of law.”
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