Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., on Sunday denied he abused ex-girlfriend Karen Monahan, a Sierra Club organizer, following allegations of domestic violence levied at the Democratic candidate for Minnesota attorney general.
“Karen and I were in a long-term relationship which ended in 2016, and I still care deeply for her well-being,” Ellison said in a statement shared on Twitter by Washington Post reporter Dave Weigel. “This video does not exist because I never behaved in this way, and any characterization otherwise is false.”
Keith Ellison flatly denies allegation that he abused an ex girlfriend. The story had been circulating in MN, and not held up under media scrutiny, so no stories ran. It blew up last night after the ex’s son posted the allegation on Facebook. pic.twitter.com/A3VQQhgzQh
— Dave Weigel (@daveweigel) August 12, 2018
Ellison’s campaign did not immediately respond to the Washington Examiner‘s request for comment.
The accusations were posted Saturday on a Facebook account appearing to belong to Austin Aslim Monahan. In the post, he described an almost two-minute long video he claims he found on his mother’s computer that captured Ellison “dragging my mama off the bed by her feet, screaming and calling her a ‘fucking bitch’ and telling her to get the fuck out of his house.”
The Daily Caller on Sunday reported Ellison’s previous tweets referring to Monahan and her son, in one case calling them “superstars.”
One of Minnesota’s own EJ superstars, Karen Francis Monahan and her son, Austin, on her birthday! pic.twitter.com/qS4mSGl3lW
— Keith Ellison (@keithellison) April 11, 2016
Ellison, deputy chairman of the Democratic National Committee, announced in June that he would not seek re-election to represent Minnesota in Congress, instead launching a bid to become the state’s top lawyer.
