Ellison asks Ethics Committee to investigate abuse allegations against him

Minnesota Rep. Keith Ellison (D) said Wednesday that he will ask the House Ethics Committee to investigate the domestic abuse claims against him.

Ellison told BuzzFeed News that he will submit a request for an ethics investigation in an attempt to clear his name ahead of his planned departure from the House in January. Ellison is running in the state’s attorney general race against Republican challenger Doug Wardlow.

{mosads}“Today I am announcing that I will submit a request for a House Ethics Committee investigation into allegations against me raised by a former partner. I am taking this step now because I am innocent and eager to see this entire matter resolved,” Ellison told the news outlet.

“In addition to any House Ethics investigation, an independent investigation has been conducted by an independent attorney. I have complied fully with that investigation, the results of which should be made public soon,” he continued.

Ellison has faced scrutiny amid the ongoing investigation into his former girlfriend’s allegations of domestic abuse. The allegations first surfaced earlier this year during Ellison’s race for attorney general.

On Tuesday, the Minnesota Star-Tribune, announced it had filed a motion to unseal Ellison’s divorce records despite his ex-wife, Kim Ellison, maintaining publicly that the lawmaker had never abused her.

“Given the public interest around that situation and Kim Ellison’s public support of her ex-husband, the divorce records are a matter of concern to voters,” the paper wrote in an article.

Ellison has vehemently denied the allegations from Karen Monahan, his former partner, and addressed them publicly as “not true” during a televised debate with Wardlow earlier this month.

“There is an ongoing investigation,” Ellison added during the debate, “which we hope will conclude.”