Ex-GOP Aide Paid to Be Mutilated for Staged Anti-Trump Attack Hoax, Feds Say

8:22 AM PT -- Natalie Greene's lawyer, Louis Barbone, tells TMZ ... "At the age of 26, my client served her community working full time to assist the constituents of the Congressman with loyalty and fidelity. She did that while being a full-time student. Under the law, she is presumed innocent and reserves all of her defenses for presentation in a court of law."

After a New Jersey woman reported she was zip-tied and slashed all over her body, with the words "Trump Whore" carved into her stomach ... authorities say she made the whole thing up, and even paid an artist to cut her skin to help sell the fabricated attack.

In court papers obtained by TMZ, federal prosecutors say the 26-year-old woman paid $500 to have a body modification artist she found on Instagram to expertly slice her up with a scalpel. Natalie Greene -- a former aide to a GOP Congressman -- is now facing charges.

Greene claimed 3 armed men attacked her and a friend on July 23 at Egg Harbor Township Nature Reserve in New Jersey. She said they threatened to shoot her before striking her in the head, tying her with zip-ties, and carving up her face and body. She also claimed they wrote political slurs on her stomach and back. Check out the photos.

Prosecutors say her story is completely bogus. Greene is a Rutgers law student who formerly worked for New Jersey Republican Rep. Jeff Van Drew.

On the night of the alleged attack, officers say they found Greene tied up and screaming that her "attackers" had a gun. She was later taken to a hospital ... and that's when investigators say the plan started to fall apart.

Prosecutors say Greene and her friend/accomplice gave different accounts of the alleged events that didn't add up. Then, black zip-ties and duct tape were reportedly found in Greene's Maserati.

Authorities say the unidentified friend's phone showed a Google search for "zip ties near me" just days before the alleged attack.

Greene was arrested Wednesday and charged with conspiracy to convey false statements and hoaxes and making false statements to federal law enforcement.