Keith Ellison slammed over domestic abuse allegations in new campaign ad

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Is the DNC mishandling the Keith Ellison abuse allegations?

DNC chair Tom Perez won't say if he believes the domestic abuse claims against the Minnesota Democrat.

The Republican challenging Keith Ellison for Minnesota attorney general slammed the congressman in a new attack ad Tuesday, citing the domestic violence allegations that have been raised against him.

“Extreme Keith Ellison supported cop killers, open borders and worse yet, Keith Ellison has been accused of domestic violence by multiple women,” the 30-second ad for Doug Wardlow said.

Ellison, who represents Minnesota’s 5th congressional district and is the deputy chairman of the Democratic National Committee, has been accused of physically and emotionally abusing his former girlfriend.

Karen Monahan, a political activist, alleged Ellison sent her multiple abusive text messages and once dragged her off a bed while shouting profanities at her. Ellison has repeatedly denied the allegations.

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Another woman, Amy Alexander, claimed in 2006 that Ellison verbally abused her and pushed her during a heated argument. Ellison has also denied her accusations and got a restraining order against her so she would stop “making falsehoods” against him.

“The TV ad contrasts Keith Ellison’s extreme views with Doug Wardlow’s pledge to stand up for the rights of all Minnesotans,” Billy Grant, Wardlow’s campaign manager, told the Star Tribune. “The next attorney general must defend the laws on the books, not legislate or push a political agenda. And unfortunately, Extreme Keith Ellison has already stated he would do the latter.”

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Sam Fettig, an Ellison campaign spokesman, told the newspaper that Wardlow was “seeking to distract and divide Minnesotans based on race and religion with this misleading attack ad, rather than talk about his own radical agenda for the Attorney General’s Office, which he has pledged to use to serve President Trump, criminalize a woman’s right to choose and further corporate special interests.”

The TV ad is Wardlow’s first in his campaign for attorney general, the Star Tribune reported. He previously told Fox News he believes he can “retire Keith Ellison from politics which would be a very good thing for Minnesota and for the country.”

A draft report of an investigation requested by the state Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party found that Monahan's claims were unsubstantiated. Since the report was leaked Monday, the DFL has said it wanted law enforcement to conduct an objective investigation.

Fox News’ Lukas Mikelionis and The Associated Press contributed to this report.