The Democratic National Committee has stayed silent so far on an ex-girlfriend's allegations of abuse against DNC vice chairman Rep. Keith Ellison (D., Minn.).
Ellison's former girlfriend Karan Monahan has accused him of emotional and physical abuse during their relationship, and her son wrote on Facebook he saw a video of Ellison dragging her off the bed and cursing at her. Ellison, a progressive favorite running for Minnesota Attorney General, said there is no such video and denied any allegations of misconduct.
The DNC did not respond to the Washington Free Beacon's request for a response to the allegations on Tuesday, and it also did not respond to similar requests by the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, CNN, and The Daily Caller.
The 44-year-old Monahan, who serves as an organizer with the progressive Sierra Club, told the New York Times Ellison's abuse was "insidious." She said she won't share the "embarrassing" video—she also says she misplaced the thumb drive that has it—but three friends corroborated her account of the bed incident to them after she moved out of Ellison's apartment, CNN reported.
"It is the most difficult form of abuse to articulate," she wrote in an email. "It is a slow insidious form of abuse. You don’t realize it is happening until it’s too late."
While the DNC has not commented so far on the allegation against Ellison, DNC chair Tom Perez tweeted positively about the resignations of Sen. Al Franken (D., Minn.) and Florida Democratic Party chair Stephen Bittel last year over various accusations of misconduct toward women.
Sen. Al Franken should step down. Everyone must share the responsibility of building a culture of trust and respect for women in every industry and workplace, and that includes our party.
— Tom Perez (@TomPerez) December 6, 2017
There's no excuse for this —
regardless of party or politics, we have to build a culture where men respect women. No woman should ever be harassed in the work place or anywhere else. https://t.co/7LxlF2d2lo— Tom Perez (@TomPerez) November 17, 2017
Another woman, Amy Alexander, accused Ellison in 2006 of emotional abuse during an affair they had and said he once grabbed and pushed her while arguing, Vox reports. Ellison said they never even had a relationship.
Ellison is the first Muslim elected to Congress and is in the midst of his sixth term. He decided to forgo seeking a seventh term in his bid for Minnesota attorney general. He has already been dogged by controversy this year, dealing with his prior entanglements with the Nation of Islam and its avowedly bigoted leader Louis Farrakhan.
UPDATE: Wednesday, 7:43 A.M.: The DNC told NPR on Tuesday it was reviewing the "disturbing" allegations against Ellison.