Attorney: Ellison abuse claim unsubstantiated

An ex-girlfriend’s allegation that Minnesota Rep. Keith Ellison once physically abused her could not be substantiated because she refused to provide video she said she had of the incident, an attorney with links to the state’s Democratic party who was hired to investigate the claims concluded in a draft report obtained by The Associated Press.

The party launched an investigation after Karen Monahan alleged in August that the Democratic congressman dragged her off a bed by her feet while screaming obscenities at her in 2016. Ellison, also a deputy chairman of the Democratic National Committee, has denied the accusation.

Monahan said she had video footage of the incident and leveled the allegation just days before a crowded Democratic primary for Minnesota attorney general that Ellison went on to win. But she declined to turn over the video during the investigation conducted by attorney Susan Ellingstad, a partner at the same Minnesota law firm as Charlie Nauen, the top lawyer for Minnesota’s DemocraticFarmer-Labor party.

In her report , Ellingstad noted Monahan’s shifting rationale for refusing to produce the video footage, including that it was lost, on a USB drive in storage or that it was too embarrassing and traumatic to release. Ellingstad also wrote that Monahan would not allow her to view the footage privately, and that Monahan’s sons —- who claimed to have seen the video — declined interviews.

“An allegation standing alone is not necessarily sufficient to conclude that conduct occurred, particularly where the accusing party declines to produce supporting evidence that she herself asserts exists,” Ellingstad wrote. “She has thus repeatedly placed the existence of the video front and center to her allegations, but then has refused to disclose it.”