During a campaign stop Tuesday, Minnesota attorney general candidate Keith Ellison seemingly lied about there being “no corroborating witnesses” in the investigation into the domestic-abuse allegations against him.
When a reporter with Valley News Live mentioned the witnesses who corroborated ex-girlfriend Karen Monahan’s story, Ellison grew visibly agitated and advised viewers to read the report for themselves.
“That’s untrue, sir. That’s simply not a fact. Well, I encourage people watching this broadcast to read the report. There are no corroborating witnesses,” he said. Ellison later seemed to clarify his statements by suggesting that there “are no contemporaneous witnesses,” but then suggested that “there is no corroboration” whatsoever.
According to a report from investigator Susan Ellingstad, who is legal partner with the attorney representing the Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) Party, there are at least three witnesses who offered testimony corroborating Monahan’s story. These three witnesses all stated that Monahan came to them after the incident and told them about how Ellison attempted to “drag her off the bed.”
During Tuesday’s interview, Ellison also addressed criticisms from Republican opponent Doug Wardlow, who recently called the investigation a “sham.”
“As predicted, the sham ‘investigation’ led by the DFL party attorney’s legal partner has concluded in favor of the party’s attorney general candidate, But the publicly available evidence contradicts that conclusion,” Wardlow said in a recent press release.
In response, Ellison said that “you have to evaluate the quality of the investigation based upon the investigation.”
“The lawyer who did the investigation I have no relationship with at all. Susan Ellingstad is an independent investigator and she did the investigation on her own, no interference from anyone, and she wrote a report that you or anybody else can read and evaluate,” Ellison stated.
Ellison also addressed the recent controversy surrounding the allegations against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who was accused of sexual assault by Christine Blasey Ford during his nomination process.
“Here’s the important thing—she was able to tell her story, she was listened to. I think that was incredibly important. I believe that victims have a right to come forward and to share their story. I think that that is critical, and so to that end I’m proud that she had the courage to do that,” Ellison said, adding that there is “room for due process” in the “#MeToo movement.”
“I said I believe in the presumption of innocence. I said I believe in due process,” he later added.
Despite the allegations, Ellison is still leading Wardlow in the polls by five points.
Watch the full interview:
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Anthony Gockowski is managing editor of The Minnesota Sun. Follow Anthony on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
