There are accusations today from a former long-time girlfriend of Keith Ellison that he sent her many threatening text messages, and that she had video of him dragging her out of bed while screaming obscenities at her. Per TPM.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota Rep. Keith Ellison on Sunday denied an allegation from an ex-girlfriend that he had once dragged her off a bed while screaming obscenities at her — an allegation that came just days before a Tuesday primary in which the congressman is among several Democrats running for state attorney general.
The allegation first surfaced Saturday night from Karen Monahan after her son alleged in a Facebook post that he had seen hundreds of angry text messages from Ellison, some threatening his mother. He also wrote he had viewed a video in which Ellison dragged Monahan off the bed by her feet. Monahan, a Minneapolis political organizer, said via Twitter that what her son posted was “true.”
Ellison denied the allegation of physical abuse. A spokesman for his campaign also denied the congressman had sent threatening text messages.
This is all occurring just a couple days before the Tuesday primary. The girlfriend was contacted by the AP weeks ago, and shared none of the tweets or video, and Minnesota Public Radio has reviewed unspecified texts and found no corroboration.
OK. That’s the news. Here are my thoughts. I don’t know if the reports are true or not, but in this case its actually fairly easy to determine. The girlfriend says she has texts and videos, Ellison says she does not, because they don’t exist. If those texts and video exist, Ellison is a lying and engaged in domestic violence against his former girlfriend. If those texts and video do not, the girlfriend is lying. Until such time as those texts and video are independently verified, I would have no issue voting for Ellison in the primary. If those texts and video are verified, I would not, and I would demand that the democrats drop him like a ton of bricks.
As of now, I will neither defend nor attack either Ellison or his former girlfriend (just as I will not use her name or attempt to attack her).
Might I suggest others do the same. There are lots of sexual harassment cases that are difficult to determine due to the lack of evidence. This is not one of those cases. The evidence either exists or it doesn’t. Let’s just wait for the evidence before making a decision.
UPDATE 1
Per Minnesota Public Radio, it appears that the texts that were reviewed by Minnesota Public Radio were provided by Ellison’s former girlfriend.
More than 100 text and Twitter messages between Ellison and Karen Monahan, shared by Karen Monahan and reviewed by MPR News, show the two communicating after their breakup for months, coordinating her getting her things from his house.
The tenor of the conversation at times was friendly, with the two acknowledging concern and care for one another, and at other times more combative over the terms of their break-up and the emotional pain Monahan said he caused her.
In one exchange, Monahan tells Ellison she plans to write about their "journey" in a chapter in her book and Ellison warns her not to. "Horrible attack on my privacy, unreal," he wrote in one message. There is no evidence in the messages reviewed by MPR News of the alleged physical abuse.
UPDATE 2
OK, the former girlfriend has released some texts, and I really can’t see anything threatening in them. You can read her twitter feed here...