Keith Ellison’s ex-girlfriend Karen Monahan was interviewed on CBS News Thursday, and she claimed Ellison hurled profane insults and dragged her out of bed after accusing her of not listening.
Ellison has denied the charge, which came to light last week when Monahan’s son posted about the alleged incident on Facebook, and on Tuesday he won the Democratic primary for Minnesota attorney general. When Monahan told her side of the story, she claimed it occurred in 2016 when Ellison told her to take out the trash while she was on her bed listening to a podcast.
"He looked at me and goes, 'Hey, you (bleep) hear me?’" Monahan said. "He goes ‘Bitch, get the (bleep) out of my house,’ and he started to try to drag me off the bed."
"That's when I put my camera on to video him," she added.
She also said Ellison didn’t apologize for his physicality.
"He didn't apologize for putting his hands on me," Monahan told CBS. "One is enough."
Monahan and her son claim to have a video of the incident, but she said she doesn't want to release it. She said the video is traumatic and that women should not need to release videos in cases of abuse.
"Monahan says she has the video. She says it's too traumatic for her, so she has chosen not to share it with anyone," CBS’s Jericka Duncan said. "She also says she should not have to release the video in order to be believed."
Meanwhile, Ellison said he did not do what is alleged and said he is confident she’s lying about having video.
"There couldn't be such a thing as that," he told WCCO in Minneapolis. "Because I never did that."
Democrats and Ellison allies have hesitated to say anything about the allegations. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.), who received Ellison’s endorsement for president in 2016, said he had "nothing" to say about it.
Accusations of unwanted groping, kissing and sexual harassment felled former Minnesota Sen. Al Franken (D.) last year, although he did not resign for several weeks after evidence surfaced..