Minnesota News Network

Minnesota attorney general candidate, Congressman Keith Ellison faces increasing pressure as an ex-girlfriend accused him on national T-V of domestic abuse.  Karen Monahan says in 2016 Ellison screamed verbal abuse while trying to drag her off a bed by her legs and feet.  She told CBS News it was the only time Ellison was physically violent during their relationship, but she doesn’t want to share the video because it’s traumatizing.

Friday morning after greeting supporters on the campaign trail in north Minneapolis, Ellison reiterated, “I did not do this thing she’s accusing me of. That’s what I’ve said from the very beginning. That’s what I say now….  She could not have any video of me abusing her. That’s not possible…. I didn’t do those things that are alleged.”

And if it’s not true, why is Monahan accusing him?  “I’ve thought about that a million times and I’ve come up with nothing,… and I’m not gonna be able to speculate about motive,” Ellison said.  When asked if he parted amicably with Monahan, Ellison responded,  “Well, we parted, right? So obviously we had our differences, but we spoke many, many times after we broke up.”

The D-F-L Party’s State Central Committee meets in Cambridge Saturday and some pundits predict party leaders will not endorse Ellison, who won Tuesday’s Democratic primary election by a large margin. Ellison says he’ll be at the Central Committee meeting to state his case. Party leaders effectively have no way to take his name off the November ballot.

Ellison was asked whether,  for the good of the D-F-L Party, he’d consider dropping out of the attorney general race.  “No…. ’cause I didn’t do it.”

 

Audio from Ellison’s Friday morning media avail:

 

In a show of unity minus one key player, Governor Mark Dayton and DFL-endorsed candidate Erin Murphy are throwing their support to Tim Walz, winner of Tuesday’s primary election for Minnesota governor. Murphy says, “It’s very important to me and to Democrats across the state, and really to Minnesotans, that we come together around an agenda that propels Minnesota’s future together.”  Governor Dayton says he supports Walz “absolutely, wholeheartedly, without any doubt or reservation whatsoever.”

But Walz’s third rival in the primary, Attorney General Lori Swanson, wasn’t present at the unity event. D-F-L Party Chairman Ken Martin says they invited candidates who competed vigorously for the party endorsement — but Swanson entered the race after the D-F-L state convention. The day after Tuesday’s primary election, she urged her supporters to “join me in supporting Congressman Walz to be our next Governor.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

Minnesota Democratic Party Chairman Ken Martin is not saying whether Congressman Keith Ellison should end his campaign for state attorney general, amid allegations of domestic abuse leveled by an ex-girlfriend.  Martin says, “The D-F-L Party takes any allegation of domestic abuse seriously. It’s a fluid situation. It’s still developing. We believe that Keith Ellison should answer the questions that have been posed to him and he should address those questions head-on.”  But Martin says “Keith is our nominee and… at this point we support him.”

The D-F-L State Central Committee meets Saturday and one question is whether they’ll endorse Ellison, who bested four Democratic rivals by a large margin in Tuesday’s primary election.