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Ellison's Ex: 'I Didn't Choose For You To Drag Me Off The Bed'

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Karen Monahan, the ex-girlfriend of Congressman Keith Ellison, spoke for the first time on camera Thursday to CBS News. She reiterated that he physically abused her -- and she has a tape to prove it.

Just days before the primary, her son posted on Facebook that he had seen a video of Ellison dragging his mother off a bed by her feet in Ellison's home.

Monahan spoke with CBS's Jericka Duncan about why she decided to share her story.

Karen Monahan
Karen Monahan (credit: CBS)

"I was listening to my podcast and he walked in, he said, 'I need you to take the trash out.' And I kept, I was on my stomach, I heard him and I … shook my head [in acknowledgement]. And he looked at me [and] goes, 'Hey! You f------ hear me?' And then he looked at me, he goes, 'B----, get the f--- out of my house!' and he started trying to drag me off the bed. That's when I put my camera on to video him," Monahan said.

The two broke up, but Monahan claims they met before he announced his attorney general run in June. He was allegedly concerned she would go public about the incident that she says happened in 2016.

"At this point in time, I'm grounded and I know who I am. I have healed for a year and a half. I looked straight at him, I said, 'I never ruined your career, I didn't choose to do the things you did, I didn't choose for you to drag me off the bed, call me a b----, tell me you hate me. I didn't choose that,'" Monahan said.

When Monahan was asked why she chose to share her story now, she said, "I followed my gut, the gut that I kept trying to push down for a year and a half."

She told both CNN Monday and CBS News Thursday that she could not immediately find the video, which is on a flash drive, because it was in storage. She added Thursday that she could find it if she wanted to, but will not release it.

Ellison adamantly denied any abuse in an interview with WCCO-TV's Esme Murphy on Wednesday.

"No, absolutely not," Ellison said. "I never did that."

With just 82 days left until the November election, DFL party leaders say they are still looking for answers from their candidate.

"The DFL party takes any allegation of domestic abuse seriously. It's a fluid situation, it's still developing," said Minnesota DFL party chair Ken Martin. "We believe that Keith Ellison should answer the questions that have been posed to him, and he should address those questions head on."

Ellison hosted a meet-and-greet event Thursday night at a private home in Woodbury.

He won the primary on Tuesday, but he still needs to seek the endorsement of the DFL central committee, which will meet this weekend in Cambridge.

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