Last month, Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) was accused of domestic violence by his former girlfriend, Karen Monahan's, son, Austin. Although the Democratic National Committee (DNC) remained silent on about the allegations against their deputy chair, the Minnesota Democratic-Farm-Labor Party launched an investigation.
Although the DFL wasn't ready to release their third party's findings, the memo was leaked. DFL Chairman Ken Martin released the following statement about the investigation's revelations:
In August, the Minnesota DFL Party hired Lockridge Grindal Nelson P.L.L.P. to conduct an investigation of the allegations made by Karen Monahan against Keith Ellison. We initiated the investigation voluntarily because we believe all claims of physical or sexual abuse or assault warrant a complete and thorough investigation.
The investigation report, which was released today without our knowledge by someone outside of our organization, was unable to substantiate the claim of physical abuse made by Ms. Monahan.
For the purpose of objectivity and getting all of the facts regarding these allegations, we have decided to forward the information in the investigation to local authorities in order to let them review the contents and determine whether further investigation is warranted.
We understand the public's desire for definitive answers in this matter, but absent substantiated evidence that proves the claim or definitive exculpatory evidence, we believe it is prudent to ask law enforcement authorities to review the information as a final step in this process.
We believe asking for the initial investigation was the right thing to do, and we still do. We believe that a final review by law enforcement authorities who routinely make decisions about allegations such as these, will offer the greatest assurance that the claims were looked into a fair, impartial and thorough manner.
According to Fox News, Ellison is in a close race with Republican Doug Wardlow for the Minnesota Attorney General's seat. Democrats are concerned these allegations can deeply impact the seat that they've held for four decades.