Ellison Loses Court Battle, Divorce Dirt Coming Out
Minnesota Democratic Rep. Keith Ellison has been facing his own #MeToo movement allegation of domestic abuse and misconduct, and though most of the liberal media and Democratic Party have studiously avoided addressing the allegations against him, a court ruling may negate the efforts to protect his career and reputation.
Ellison, who serves as the deputy chair of the Democratic National Committee and is running to be attorney general in Minnesota, has been accused of engaging in physically and verbally abusive behavior toward an ex-girlfriend named Karen Monahan.
Monahan has asserted that, among other incidents, Ellison once dragged her off a bed by her feet during an argument. She has claimed that the incident was caught on cell phone video, but has yet to release any video for the public to see, aside from her own family members.
Incredibly, despite near-constant admonishments from the left that all women accusers “must be believed” when they make accusations against powerful men — as was clearly seen during the debacle that was the confirmation hearings of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh — the left has largely overlooked the allegations against Ellison or dismissed the accusations from Monahan as not credible.
But all of that could change this week, as Fox News reported that an appeals court judge in Minnesota just ruled against a joint effort by Ellison and his ex-wife of 25 years, Kim Ellison, to delay the public release of their divorce records until they’d had a chance to go through them and redact any sensitive or “confidential information.”
The release of those divorce records had been requested jointly by the liberal-leaning Minneapolis Star Tribune newspaper and a conservative media outlet known as Alpha News, both of which argued that the divorce records were a matter of public interest given the fact that Ellison was running to be the state’s top law enforcement official while he had allegations of criminal behavior lodged against him.
The Star Tribune reported that the file could be unsealed as soon as Wednesday, as Judge Renee Worke had ruled that Ellison and his ex-wife had failed to show that they met the requirements necessary to prevent the divorce records from being released to the public.
Divorce records in the state are typically public record unless both parties to the divorce request that the file be sealed, as had occurred in this case. Nevertheless, the judge agreed with the media outlets that, despite the joint request of the Ellisons to keep the file sealed, there was a compelling public interest in the information.
Kim Ellison informed reporters on Tuesday that the request to keep the file sealed was on her behalf, as the records contained personal and confidential information about her medical issues, specifically her dealing with multiple sclerosis and a bout with depression.
The ex-wife accused the two media outlets of attempting to use the Ellison’s “personal tragedy for personal gain or political gain or to boost circulation,” and suggested that it would be “unfair” for the media to reduce her entire life down to “the two years that I suffered a mental illness.”
She has also been insistent that there was never “any abuse of any kind in our relationship.”
For his part, Ellison has repeatedly denied the allegations brought against him by Monahan, a denial that was bolstered recently following a purported review by a Democratic Party-affiliated attorney named Susan Ellingstad who’d been hired by the state party. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Ellingstad issued a report that cleared Ellison of any wrongdoing.
Regardless of the Ellisons’ public denials that any abuse ever occurred in their relationship, or their effort to keep their divorce records hidden away from the public, all will be revealed eventually. And the developments are already having an impact on the race.
Keith Ellison's lead vanishing amid domestic abuse allegations https://t.co/u8Gy9dygys
— Fox News (@FoxNews) October 16, 2018
To be sure, it remains unclear just what is in those divorce records, but given the couple’s fight to keep them private, it’s a good bet there’s information that a budding national politician like Ellison doesn’t want in the public eye.
It is suspected by some that there is information contained within the divorce records that could substantiate and bolster the claims of abuse made by women Ellison dated after the divorce, which would explain why Ellison has fought so hard to keep the records sealed from public view.
If there is anything worth knowing in the divorce records that relates in any way to the abuse allegations against him, it will be out soon enough.
Ellison was cruising toward an easy victory prior to the emergence of allegations. As the tight race for for state attorney general gets tighter, perhaps even Democrat-darling Ellison could be a casualty of the #MeToo movement.
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