The chairman of Minnesota’s Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL) says that the results of an investigation into claims of domestic abuse against attorney general nominee Keith Ellison make it impossible for him to believe Ellison’s accuser.
DFL chairman Ken Martin told a reporter on Thursday that he “believes our investigation” according to Fox News.
{mosads}”I don’t believe her,” Martin added, referring to Karen Monahan, the Ellison ex-girlfriend who accused the Minnesota congressman of abuse. An attorney hired by state Democrats looking into Monaham’s claims of domestic abuse and concluded they were “unsubstantiated.”
“I support Karen bringing her allegations forward, and I support there being an investigation into those,” Martin said. “We conducted an outside, independent investigation, and that investigation showed we could not substantiate her claim of domestic abuse. And so I do not believe her — I believe our investigation.”
Martin’s statements come as Ellison has faced criticism from Republican over the allegation amid the #MeToo movement, which elsewhere has seen powerful male figures ousted over past sexual or physical misconduct.
Ellison remains a vice chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), though he resigned his House seat earlier this year in order to pursue a bid to be Minnesota’s next attorney general.
He currently trails his Republican opponent, Doug Wardlow, by 7 points according to a Star Tribune/MPR News Minnesota Poll, while a similar poll last month showed him with a five-point advantage.