The chairman of the liberal Minnesota political party affiliated with Democrats said Wednesday that he does not believe the claims of Keith Ellison’s ex-girlfriend, who has accused the former congressman and current nominee for state attorney general of abuse.
“I don’t believe her,” said Ken Martin, chairman of Minnesota’s Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, of Ellison’s accuser, Karen Monahan. Monahan has alleged that Ellison screamed profanities at her while dragging her off a bed and threatened her in text messages. She claims to have a video of the bed incident but says she does not wish to release it because it is “embarrassing.”
“I support Karen bringing her allegations forward, and I support there being an investigation into those,” Martin said. “We conducted an outside, independent investigation, and that investigation showed we could not substantiate her claim of domestic abuse. And so I do not believe her — I believe our investigation.”
The investigation was conducted by a lawyer who is a partner at a firm that has donated $50,000 to Ellison.
Monahan shot back at Martin on Twitter, calling the investigation “biased in so many ways” and arguing that “Keith was not cleared.”
Keith was not cleared. The investigators report said, I was credible, my witnesses were credible and all my evidence was credible. The investigation was so biased in so many ways. I volunteered to participate, knowing it was biased, wanted 2 unveil corruption & deceit. https://t.co/kWIlFDLaAq
— Karen Monahan (@KarenMonahan01) October 26, 2018
Despite medical records, therapist summary and notes, witnesses, my son witnessing the actual abuse, text showing I discussed the abuse in detail w/Keith Ellison, the investigator saying witnesses & I were credible, & more,@kenmartin73, DFL chair, said he didn’t believe me.
— Karen Monahan (@KarenMonahan01) October 25, 2018
Ellison, the deputy chair of the Democratic National Committee, declined to seek reelection to his House seat, announcing in June that he would instead focus on his campaign for Minnesota attorney general. He trails Republican Doug Wardlow by about seven points in that race, according to a Minnesota Public Radio/Star Tribune poll released earlier this week.