Exactly what is Keith Ellison (D-MN) accused of?

[Eric J in MN]

Congressman Keith Ellison (D-MN) is the Democratic nominee for MN Attorney General. He is pro-choice, pro-worker, and pro-environment. His opponent, Doug Wardlow (R-MN), is the opposite on all those issues.

You may have seen a headline that Ellison was accused of "Domestic Violence" or "Domestic Abuse." What was he specifically accused of?

Amy Alexander claimed in 2005 that Keith Ellison argued with her in her house, then pushed her out of his way to leave, and broke her screen door on his way out.

Ellison said that he was never in her house; Alexander was trying to extort him.

Alexander had written threatening emails to Ellison. A judge gave Ellison a restraining order against her. The judge refused to give her a restraining order against him.

Even according to Alexander's story, she wasn't assaulted, she was pushed out of the way. Based on the ruling of the judge, she may have made the whole thing up.

Karen Monahan accuses Ellison of getting physical with her exactly once: shouting at her to move out while trying unsuccessfully to pull her out of bed by her feet.

Ellison denies doing that.

I don't believe Amy Alexander's accusation. I neither believe-nor-disbelieve Karen Monahan's accusation.
Keith Ellison's opponent, Doug Wardlow (R) is anti-immigrant, anti-voting rights, anti-abortion, anti-gay marriage, anti-worker, and anti-environment. Even if I were certain these two accusations were true, I would vote for Keith Ellison to stop Wardlow.
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I originally wrote the above for a webpage. If you know a voter in Minnesota who doesn't understand the accusations, please direct the voter to this DU page or my webpage.

[OhioBlue]

1. thank you for posting this. Facebook is awash in memes

that show a picture of a woman with bruises on her face and insinuating it is Ellison's girl friend. I forget which fact check site I used, but they did say that it was not a pic of his ex-girlfriend but were a bit ambiguous about the actual allegations.

[Eric J in MN]

2. You're welcome. Snopes debunks the fake photos right-wingers are posting.

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/keith-ellison-former-girlfriend-photo/

Karen Monahan says that the only time Keith Ellison ever got physical with her was trying unsuccessfully to pull her out of bed so she'd move out.

If the incident took place, then it was unsuccessful in the sense that she stayed in bed at that time. And unsuccessful in the sense that she moved out two months later, not that day.

[canetoad]

3. If you Google

Karen Monahan, there are plenty of articles and stories and posts going back a few years. You can draw your own opinions about her stability and character.

[Eric J in MN]

4. My biggest problem with Karen Monahan's character is

Last edited Sun Oct 14, 2018, 04:21 AM - Edit history (1)

...that she has misled millions of people into thinking she's accusing Ellison of rape or battery.

She said in an interview that the only time he got physical with her was trying to pull her out of bed by her feet to try to get her to move out.

But she used the word "violence" 14 times in her public statement on their relationship, so the media would use that word, and she succeeded. There are lots of headlines on Keith Ellison with the phrase "Domestic Violence" because of that.

She's active on Twitter, and her Pinned Tweet starts with the phrase, "Sexual Assault," to mislead people.

To her credit, she replied to a tweet with a photo of a battered woman misidentified as her by saying that's not her and people shouldn't share that photo.

But despite knowing that photo is going around, she didn't write in her Twitter bio that she isn't accusing Ellison of rape or battery.

She's using innuendo and omission to try to destroy Keith Ellison's career.

[Initech]

5. Being a Democrat?

[Eric J in MN]

6. Karen Monahan has tweeted in support of the WalkAway movement

...that Democrats should become Republicans.

Her attorney, Andrew Parker, hosts a right-wing radio show for an hour per week. On the show, he praises Donald Trump and tells people to send money to Doug Wardlow (R). Wardlow is running against Keith Ellison (D) for MN Attorney General.

Parker says in interviews that Monahan was a Democrat for 20 years.

I think the key word is "was."