DNC chair: Domestic abuse claim vs Ellison won’t hurt Dems

Published 7:44 am Thursday, August 16, 2018

ATLANTA — Democratic Party Chairman Tom Perez said Wednesday he’s talked to his deputy Keith Ellison about domestic abuse allegations that emerged just days before Ellison won his party’s nomination for Minnesota attorney general.

Perez told reporters as he campaigned in Georgia that he takes “very seriously” any accusation of domestic abuse. Ellison has denied the allegation, and Perez said the matter will not threaten Democrats as they try to capitalize on opposition to President Donald Trump driven overwhelmingly by women.

“Democrats have been winning everywhere,” he said. “Our democracy is on the ballot. That’s why you see the remarkable energy … that I think continues.”

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Still, Perez said the national party is “absolutely taking a careful look” at assertions that Ellison, currently a Minnesota congressman, physically and emotionally abused an ex-girlfriend, Karen Monahan, in the past.

The allegations first surfaced over the weekend before Tuesday’s primary.

Monahan’s son alleged in a Facebook post that he had seen hundreds of angry text messages from Ellison, some threatening his mother. He also wrote that he’d viewed a video in which Ellison dragged Monahan off the bed by her feet. Monahan said via Twitter that what her son posted was “true.”

Ellison issued a statement Sunday saying no video exists “because I never behaved in this way.” He went on to a primary victory Tuesday, claiming the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party’s nomination for state attorney general.