Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) has been accused of domestic abuse by his former girlfriend, Karen Monahan. Yet, unlike the circus that surrounded the Supreme Court nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh, who was subjected to multiple sexual misconduct allegations, no one seems to believe Monahan. The allegations lobbed at Kavanaugh were shoddy, baseless, and unsubstantiated gossip, but Democrats rallied around them. They wanted to destroy him. They tarnished his reputation, but they lost. He’s now on the Supreme Court. For Monahan, no one believes her, especially Democrats (via Fox News):
The woman who accused Minnesota Democratic Rep. Keith Ellison of domestic abuse said on Monday that Democrats don’t believe her story and threatened to isolate her over the allegations.
Karen Monahan, a former girlfriend, came forward last month alleging that Ellison sent her threatening text messages and once screamed obscenities at her as he dragged her off a bed by her feet.
Ellison has denied the accusations, saying he “never behaved this way.” He did acknowledge he was in a relationship with the woman.
The allegations didn’t lead to any immediate action against the congressman, except for the announcement that the Democratic National Committee (DNC) would review the accusations. He went on to win the Democratic primary election for Minnesota attorney general.
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“No, they don't,” Monahan tweeted in response to a question whether the party believes women’s stories. “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 added: “Four people, including my supervisor at the time, stated that I came to them after and shared the exact story I shared publicly, I shared multiple text between me and Keith, where I discuss the abuse with him and much more. As I said before, I knew I wouldn't be believed.”
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Well, the chair of the Democratic Party of Minnesota, Ken Martin, was quite clear in that position as well. As we’ve said many times before, the war on women is coming from inside the house (via RCP):
For the past two months, DFL Party Chair Ken Martin has walked a tightrope when it comes to both supporting a woman's right to bring domestic abuse allegations against state Attorney General candidate Keith Ellison and also supporting the candidate.
On Wednesday, he again supported the right of Ellison's accuser, ex-girlfriend Karen Monahan, to be heard.
"I support Karen bringing her allegations forward and I support there being an investigation into those," he said at a news conference at the State Capitol.
"That's how you change culture. Not brushing them under the rug, not discounting them."
But when pressed by a reporter on whether or not he believes Monahan's allegations, Martin now says he does not.
"We took them seriously," he said of the allegations. "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."
Well, while Democrats might not believe Monahan, it seems that voters might be more open, Ellison is trailing his Republican opponent in the state’s attorney general race (MPR News):
Republican Doug Wardlow is leading Democrat Keith Ellison by 7 points in the race for attorney general, according to the latest MPR News/Star Tribune Minnesota Poll — a significant reversal from the last round of polling in mid-September.
Of 800 likely voters polled last week, 43 percent said they preferred Wardlow, an attorney and one-time state legislator, while 36 percent said they support Ellison, who has served the 5th District in Congress for the last 12 years; 16 percent said they were undecided in the race, a 2-point drop from the earlier poll.
In September, Ellison held a 5-point lead over Wardlow.
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