DFL candidates respond to Rep. Ellison allegations, accuser speaks out
(KMSP) - While the DFL party’s endorsed candidates were front and center on this primary eve, there was no sign of Representative Keith Ellison, who is now running for Attorney General.
His campaign was silent and Rep. Ellison was nowhere to be found after an ex-girlfriend accused the lawmaker of domestic abuse, which Ellison has since denied.
During the event, Ellison's opponents took time to weigh in on the accusations.
“The allegations are a pattern of domestic and physical abuse, and threatening behavior is unacceptable for someone running to be the chief legal officer for the state of Minnesota. I don’t think it’s the appropriate characteristic for a person leading the attorney general’s office,” said Tom Foley, a DFL candidate for Attorney General.
Fellow DFL candidate Matt Pelikan added that “the situation is developing. We’re watching it closely. I asked Rep. Ellison to respond publicly, and he’s done so. We’ll see how it develops. We’re focused on issues and representing the people of Minnesota.”
In the meantime, as early voters cast ballots in Richfield and across the state, Ellison’s accuser Karen Monahan told Minnesota Public Radio she will not be releasing a supposed cell phone video that shows alleged abuse. Monahan had a prior relationship with the congressman that ended a couple of years ago.
Monahan and her son reported that Ellison dragged her by her ankle off a bed at Ellison’s home while he shouted profanities at her.
Over the weekend, Ellison released a statement denying the video even exists.
"It's humiliating, it's traumatizing for everyone's family involved and for me," Monahan told MPR. "It sets the expectation for survivors of all kinds of forms of abuse, whether it be abuse toward women, abuse from police officers, abuse from other people in power, to have to be the ones - like I'm doing right now - to show and prove their stories," she said. "It's feeding into that."
Monahan released a statement to Fox 9 late Sunday night, which can be found here.
The previous story including the initial accusation can be found here.