Lawyer: No Proof Means Allegation Against Ellison 'Is Unsubstantiated'
Accusations of partner abuse against Minnesota Democratic Congressman Keith Ellison should be rejected because they are only based upon the word of a woman who claims Ellison beat and humiliated her, according to the draft report commissioned by the state Democratic Party.
As reported by The Western Journal, the investigation into allegations from Karen Monahan was conducted by Susan Ellingstad, a partner in the same law firm as the state Democratic Party’s attorney. Ellison is the Democratic candidate for Minnesota attorney general.
Ellison has been accused by Monahan of physically and verbally abusing her during their relationship. Ellison has admitted to the relationship but denied any abuse. The accusations against Ellison first surfaced in August.
Ellingstad said that because Monahan has said there is a video showing the abuse, but because she would not release it, her claims are therefore invalid.
“An allegation standing alone is not necessarily sufficient to conclude that conduct occurred, particularly where the accusing party declines to produce supporting evidence that she herself asserts exists,” Ellingstad wrote, according to the Associated Press.
“She has thus repeatedly placed the existence of the video front and center to her allegations, but then has refused to disclose it,” Ellingstad wrote.
If this is the argument the left is going to use with Keith Ellison, they must give Kavanaugh the same respect. Especially when you consider his accusers have actual hard evidence. Kavanaugh’s don’t. https://t.co/FWB4RsZN4F
— RAM (Richard Armande Mills) (@RAMRANTS) October 1, 2018
“The investigation report … was unable to substantiate the claim of physical abuse made by Ms. Monahan,” read a statement from Ken Martin, the chairman of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, which is backing Ellison.
“For the purpose of objectivity and getting all of the facts regarding these allegations, we have decided to forward the information in the investigation to local authorities in order to let them … determine whether further investigation is warranted,” Martin’s statement said, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reported.
Monahan has said that she believes her accusations should not require video proof.
“It’s humiliating, it’s traumatizing, for everyone’s family involved, and for me,” she told Minnesota Public Radio, saying that she is angry that she is not believed without producing the video.
“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.”
Last month, Monahan was asked about whether Democrats believed her the way they backed Christine Blasey Ford, who has leveled sexual misconduct allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
“No, they don’t. I’ve been smeared, threatened, isolated from my own party. I provided medical records from 2017, stating on two different Dr. Visits, I told them about the abuse and who did it. My therapist released records stating I have been dealing and healing from the abuse,” she wrote on Twitter.
No, they don't. I've been smeared, threatened, isolated from my own party. I provided medical records from 2017, stating on two different Dr. Visits, I told them about the abuse and who did it. My therapist released records stating I have been dealing and healing from the abuse
— Karen Monahan (@KarenMonahan01) September 17, 2018
Monahan has produced text messages between her and Ellison and tweeted a summary of a doctor’s report that shows she told her doctor about her claims against Ellison.
Karin Housley, a Republican candidate seeking a U.S. Senate in Minnesota, said Ellison should be investigated by the Minnesota Office of the Attorney General, not just by the House.
“Recent calls for a congressional ethics investigation, made by Keith Ellison and echoed by my opponent, amount to nothing more than political cover; Ellison will have left Congress by the time an investigation could be completed,” Housley said in a statement. “These are serious, recent and substantiated allegations that deserve immediate attention and raise significant doubts about Keith Ellison’s fitness to serve as Minnesota’s chief legal officer.”
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