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Are Democrats Ignoring Their Own #MeToo Dilemma?
The case of Keith Ellison, who’s been accused of domestic abuse, has flown under the radar for months, complicating the #MeToo playing field for the left.
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October 2, 2018 4:36 pm
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As sexual assault allegations around
Donald Trump Supreme Court nominee
Brett Kavanaugh have roiled Washington, another, Democratic case has received markedly less attention. On Monday, an attorney hired by Minnesota’s Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party
announced that the allegations against Rep.
Keith Ellison, who’s currently running for attorney general of Minnesota, could not be substantiated because
Karen Monahan, Ellison’s former girlfriend who claims he subjected her to emotional and physical abuse, would not provide the video she claimed had captured one such incident. In her
report, attorney
Susan Ellingstad wrote that Monahan had changed her rationale for keeping the video under wraps, saying alternately that the flash drive on which the video is allegedly stored is packed away in boxes, to explaining that releasing the footage would be “too embarrassing and traumatic.” When Ellingstad offered to view the tape in private, Monahan did not return her text message and e-mail. “While I understand Ms. Monahan’s rationale of not wanting to succumb to the bullying and pressure to prove her story,” Ellingstad wrote, “I nonetheless find that dangling dispositive proof of a serious allegation of physical abuse and then withholding it from the investigator unavoidably creates doubt about the allegation.” (“This is #whyididnttell and I said it from the beginning, I didn’t expect to be heard, believed or validated,” Monahan
tweeted in response.)
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The Ellison case has bubbled away on the back burner of the national conversation since mid-August, when Monahan first came forward. And it complicates things like the Kavanaugh vote for Democrats, who are seen by many on the right as all too willing to believe allegations against Republicans, but hesitant to condemn their own. “Guess what? Prominent Democrats line up in support, believe Kavanaugh’s accuser,”
Sean Hannity complained on his show on September 20. “You’re hard pressed to find any Democrats standing behind Ellison’s ex-girlfriend. That proves it’s politics.” Others have chastised the media for failing to zero in on the case. “The press doesn’t need to be the final judge and arbiters to whether or not Keith Ellison is guilty,” said American Conservative Union chairman
Matt Schlapp back in August. “But they need to explain the story so that people can make their own judgment. It’s really the press that continues to fail to do their job.” And this week, Kavanaugh’s right-wing supporters jumped on the news that the charges against Ellison had been waved away, claiming that Monahan has about as much evidence to offer as
Christine Blasey Ford. (Monahan has shared medical records and notes from her therapist, as well as several
messages from Ellison.)
As it stands, the House Ethics Committee has yet to investigate the allegations against Ellison, who still represents Minnesota’s 5th District. Late last month, the congressman himself called for such a probe, asking the committee to investigate Monahan’s claims because, he
told BuzzFeed News, he is “eager to see this entire matter resolved”; thus far, he added, the “allegations have lingered in the public sphere, and remain unsubstantiated.” Several Democrats told BuzzFeed that they would welcome a House investigation, including
Kirsten Gillibrand, Nancy Pelosi, and
Tim Kaine. Senator
Mazie Hirono called for a probe even before Ellison requested it, telling CNN, “I have been very clear that I make no excuses for anybody who engages in this kind of behavior . . . these allegations need to be investigated, and appropriate action taken.”
For some Democrats, the timing of an investigation would work out a little too perfectly for Ellison, who plans to leave Congress at the end of his term, whether or not he wins the A.G. race. “It probably should be [investigated], but you know, they won’t get it started and then he will be gone,” Democratic Representative
Jackie Speier told BuzzFeed. “You know, it’s going to be a gesture more than anything else. We’ve got to do something with the Ethics Committee generally because when members leave, you know, the investigation falls off.” There’s also a good chance that Ellison is counting on being cleared by the House for political reasons—he currently holds a
slim lead over his Republican rival, and according to a
Star Tribune/M.P.R. News poll, 57 percent of voters are unsure about the domestic-abuse allegations against him. But at a time when survivors of sexual assault are finding an increasingly receptive audience, it would behoove Ellison, who denies the claims, to eliminate all traces of doubt.
As the #MeToo movement has swept through Congress, it has not left Democrats untouched. Senator
Al Franken stepped down, at the behest of many of his Democratic colleagues, in light of allegations that he had behaved inappropriately toward women. And high-ranking Rep.
John Conyers resigned over claims of sexual harassment, as well as allegations that he had used taxpayer money to silence his accusers. At the very least, Ellison seems hyper-aware of the optics. “Addressing this allegation has been especially challenging given the important national moment we are in,” he said in a statement after Ellingstad’s report went public. “I believe women who come forward must be heard, and to have their allegations fully investigated.” So far, his case has yet to make waves the way Kavanaugh’s has. Which means that Democrats would do well to pre-empt it with a thorough probe, for reasons both moral and political.
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The Confirmation Circus of Brett Kavanaugh
Kavanaugh photographed before being sworn.
Photo: By Melina Mara/The Washington Post/Getty Images.
