Abuse Allegations Surface Days Before Minn. Primary

An ex-girlfriend has made disturbing allegations of domestic abuse against US Rep. Keith Ellison, days before the Democrat faces a five-way primary for Minnesota attorney general. Karen Monahan says a Facebook post made by her son, who said he'd seen video of Ellison dragging her off a bed and screaming obscenities at her, is true, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports. Monahan has been tweeting for months about an abusive relationship she was in with a powerful man, without naming Ellison. "I was physically abused, emotional and psychological and sexually manipulated by this man," she said in one tweet.

Ellison, vice chair of the Democratic National Committee, has denied the allegations, saying the video Monahan's 25-year-old son claims to have seen on her computer last year doesn't exist, Politico reports. "Karen and I were in a long-term relationship which ended in 2016, and I still care deeply for her well-being," Ellison said in a statement. "This video does not exist because I never behaved in this way, and any characterization otherwise is false." Monahan provided more than 100 text and Twitter messages between her and Ellison in the months after their breakup to Minnesota Public Radio, which found that the tone was "combative," though the messages don't contain any proof of abuse. (More Keith Ellison stories.)