MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. - Congressman Keith Ellison, one of five DFL candidates for attorney general in Tuesday's primary, is now the subject of a domestic abuse allegation made by his ex-girlfriend - which includes the alleged existence of a video showing Ellison dragging the woman, Karen Monahan, off a bed by her feet and yelling obscenities at her.
Ellison denied the allegation through a statement.
"Karen and I were in a long-term relationship which ended in 2016, and I still care deeply for her well-being. This video does not exist because I never behaved in this way, and any characterization otherwise is false," the statement issued through Ellison's spokesman reads.
This accusation first broke at 7:30 p.m. Saturday in a Facebook post written by Monahan's son.
In it, he describes the video he says he saw on his mother's computer in mid-2017.
On Sunday, Karen Monahan said that the information in her son's post were true.
On Twitter she wrote: "Every statement he made was true. Keith Ellison, you know you did that to me. I have given every opportunity to get help and heal. Even now, u r willing to say my son is lying and have me continue to leak more text and info just so others will believe him."
Monahan has shared text message screenshots of conversations between her and Ellison, but no evidence of the alleged abuse. And there currently is no video publicly circulating.
Monahan declined KARE 11's request for an interview, but she submitted a statement.
Over the last two weeks on Twitter, Monahan has shared details of the alleged abuse without naming Ellison.
On August 3 she wrote:
"I am a survivor of narcissist abuse. I was physically abused, emotional, psychological and sexually manipulated by this man. I am not the first woman he has done this to and I wasn’t the last. I offered him restorative justice several times, he declined. I saved text/videos & he still feels entitled to move on & live as if nothing happened. My children have been impacted, so many women who know what happened & watch him smear me, take no responsibility & have watched his crew protect him, have been reinforced how their human rights do not matter. Narcissist smear their victims, engage in pathological lying, run & hide from their misdeeds, manipulate, get their inner circle to do their dirty work to protect them, get bored easy, always looking for a new competition, more power, pathological cheaters & are always the victim. hey are often beacons of society and it is hard for anyone to believe what they are capable of doing behind close doors. Narcissist abuse is some of the worst abuse a person can endure, it’s so misunderstood and can’t be understood from using the lens of other forms of abuse."
Sunday afternoon, Ellison's ex-wife Kim Ellison sent a statement in support of him.
"I feel I know him better than anyone else. And, yes, it is true that we ended our marriage a few years ago," she wrote in part. "We may be divorced, but we are still a family. I want members of our community to know that the behavior described does not match the character of the Keith I know."
As the current Congressman from Congressional District 5, Ellison is considered the front-runner in Tuesday's DFL primary for state attorney general.
Two of his opponents, Debra Hilstrom and Tom Foley, issued statements calling on Ellison to address the allegations.