INVESTIGATION REPORT
Prepared for Ken Martin, Chair
Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party

Prepared by:
Susan E. Ellingstad
Lockridge Grindal Nauen P.L.L.P.
Suite 2200
100 Washington Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN 55401

 I.

SCOPE AND SUMMARY OF INVESTIGATION

On August 11, 2018, Austin Monahan posted a message on Facebook regarding his mother,
Karen Monahan, and her relationship with former Congressman and current candidate for
Minnesota Attorney General, Keith Ellison. In the post, Austin Monahan claimed to have seen a
video in mid-2017 showing Keith Ellison “dragging my mama off the bed by her feet, screaming
and calling her a ‘fucking bitch’ and telling her to ‘get the fuck out of his house.’” He claimed to
have seen text and twitter messages from Mr. Ellison alternately saying that he wanted her back,
and then “shaming, bullying and threatening her.” The next day, Karen Monahan tweeted: “That
was my son who posted and its [sic] true. He wouldn’t lie about his own mom.” She claimed the
altercation on the bed occurred in September 2016.1
The August 11, 2018 post by Austin Monahan occurred three days before the Minnesota
primary election on August 14. Since that post, Ms. Monahan has written extensively on social
media and provided multiple media interviews accusing Keith Ellison of trying to drag her off the
bed by her feet and ankles. While Ms. Monahan’s narrative has focused on allegations of
“narcissist abuse” and emotional abuse as well as physical abuse, public attention has centered on
the alleged “dragging off the bed” incident, which has been characterized in the media as physical
domestic abuse and even a “violent assault.” Ms. Monahan claims to have videotaped the alleged
incident. Mr. Ellison flatly denies the alleged incident and has said the video could not exist
because he did not engage in that behavior. Following the primary election, the DFL Party retained
me to conduct an investigation into the allegation by Ms. Monahan that Mr. Ellison engaged in
physical abuse.
Given the broad spectrum of allegations made by Ms. Monahan about Mr. Ellison, it is
important to properly define the scope of this investigation. In addition to the single allegation of
“physical abuse,” Ms. Monahan has alleged that she suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder
(PTSD) as a result of the emotional abuse she endured during her relationship with Mr. Ellison.
She accuses him of “narcissist abuse.” This investigation does not purport to resolve these
questions. It is beyond the scope of this investigation – and the qualifications of this investigator
– to ascribe psychological labels or diagnoses to the parties. The purpose of this investigation is
thus not to determine whether Ms. Monahan was subjected to “narcissist abuse” (not a formally
recognized term), or whether Ms. Monahan has post-traumatic stress disorder and the potential
causes. This is not in any way intended to diminish the seriousness of emotional abuse or to
suggest it is less important than physical abuse; however, those aspects of Ms. Monahan’s
allegations are outside of the scope of this assignment.
Rather, this investigation is limited to the allegation that Mr. Ellison tried to drag Ms.
Monahan off the bed while yelling profanities at her (the allegation is hereinafter referred to as

1

As discussed below, the date of the alleged incident has now been clarified to be August 26,
2016.
2

 “the incident”).2 Ms. Monahan’s allegations of narcissist abuse, as well as Mr. Ellison’s
allegations regarding Ms. Monahan’s behavior, are considered insofar as they lend context to the
allegation under investigation or are probative of the credibility of the witnesses. This report will
summarize the evidence that exists which supports the truth of the allegation and which casts doubt
on the allegation, and my factual findings relating to this allegation based on that evidence.

PERSONS INTERVIEWED3

II.

[REDACTED]
III.
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DOCUMENTS REVIEWED4
Numerous text and Twitter messages and Facebook postings to and from Karen Monahan
and to and from Keith Ellison, produced by both sides
Karen Monahan handwritten notebook from January 2017
Calendar of Keith Ellison August 2016
Letter from Karen Monahan to MH dated December 31, 2017
Affidavit of Keith Ellison dated August 27, 2018
Social media postings
News articles and interviews of both Karen Monahan and Keith Ellison
Letter dated September 6, 2018 and partial treatment notes dated June 6, 2018 of
Dr. Johanna L. Lamm
Park Nicollet, November 28, 2017 Progress notes (partial)

2

The mandate of this investigation was also not to conduct a background investigation of either
party, but to focus on this single allegation of physical abuse within the context of the relationship
between Ms. Monahan and Mr. Ellison.
3

Several of the witnesses I interviewed (on both sides) would speak to me only if I promised
confidentiality. Accordingly, I have withheld the names of the witnesses other than Karen
Monahan, Keith Ellison, and Kim Ellison from the version of this report that will be publicly
released.
4

I reviewed all documents voluntarily submitted by both parties in in response to my request to
provide documents proving or supporting their respective positions.
3

 IV.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND
A.

Background of Relationship Prior to the Alleged Incident (August 26, 2016)

Karen Monahan is a 44 year-old woman who works as an advocate for the Sierra Club.
Ms. Monahan met Keith Ellison in about 2006 when she was with Environmental Justice
Advocates of Minnesota (EJAM). At the time, Mr. Ellison was running for Congress for the first
time and was married; Ms. Monahan was separated and later divorced. Ms. Monahan and Mr.
Ellison began a romantic relationship after Mr. Ellison had legally separated from his wife in about
2011. They both have adult children from other relationships. As their relationship became more
serious, Ms. Monahan began spending most of her time at his house. She moved in with him in
2015.
By all accounts, the relationship was volatile and the two argued frequently. Mr. Ellison
cited as an example a trip to Istanbul in 2015 where Ms. Monahan accompanied him. He stated
that she became upset with him and stormed out into the city by herself at night. He said he
attempted to convey to her not only the security concerns, but that they were under scrutiny at all
times and she could not behave in that way. Mr. Ellison stated that they considered breaking up in
the spring of 2016 and he went on a trip to Israel without Ms. Monahan. During that time period,
he had coffee with a long-time friend and current girlfriend, MH, and invited her to dinner. But
then he and Ms. Monahan decided to continue trying to work things out and they stayed together.
Mr. Ellison recalled only one time in 2013 where he called Ms. Monahan a “bitch”
following an argument over purchasing something that he thought was too expensive. Ms.
Monahan told him never to call her a “bitch” again and made it clear that she would not tolerate
that. Ms. Monahan said it was only toward the end of the relationship that Mr. Ellison became
more disrespectful of her and called her a “fucking bitch” “a few times.” Ms. Monahan denied
calling Mr. Ellison names, but acknowledged that when she was upset she would cry and yell.
According to both parties, in mid-2016 Ms. Monahan had become increasingly suspicious that Mr.
Ellison was lying to her and being unfaithful. By Mr. Ellison’s account, Ms. Monahan constantly
accused him of cheating and lying and the accusations became more frequent, angry and
aggressive. Mr. Ellison maintains that he was not unfaithful to Ms. Monahan when they were
together,5 but he could not allay her suspicions. By Ms. Monahan’s account, throughout 2016,
Mr. Ellison became increasingly angry and his reactions when she criticized him or became
frustrated with him (over things like being late) became disproportionate and were “ramping up.”
On August 25, 2016, Mr. Ellison attended a forum on transgender issues and afterward met
a female friend to discuss a personal issue. By his account, when he arrived home, Ms. Monahan
asked where he had been and who brought him home. He responded that he had been at the forum
and his staff had brought him home. Ms. Monahan accused him of lying as she had already verified
both the time he left the forum and that his staff had not driven him home. She told him she could
not trust him. According to Mr. Ellison, he admitted to Ms. Monahan that he had lied. He told
her the meeting with the friend was entirely innocent, but because he knew she would react in a
5

As discussed below, Mr. Ellison and Ms. Monahan flatly dispute when they were together and
when they broke up.
4

 volatile manner he could not tell her about it. He said that was the reason they had to break up:
he knew he could not tell her the truth because she did not trust him, and he did not want to be in
a relationship where he had to lie. Mr. Ellison said he told Ms. Monahan they were done and she
would have to find a place to live; she responded several times, “You’re kicking me out!?” Mr.
Ellison stated that his voice “matched hers,” elevated but not to the point of yelling. He described
it as a “tough moment,” emotional and intense but with no screaming. He said that following this
argument, they went to bed at different times, but he did not recall that she slept in the guest
bedroom.
Ms. Monahan said after she confronted him about lying, Mr. Ellison became “enraged,”
was “seething” with anger, and told her to stop trying to “shame” him. (Mr. Ellison admitted that
he could have said something along the lines of “you’re trying to shame me.”). She said Mr.
Ellison claimed the meeting with the female friend was innocent but that he did not tell her about
it because he knew she would accuse him of cheating. Ms. Monahan said he became scary. She
then went to bed in a separate bedroom and they had no further contact that evening.
B.

The Alleged Incident

Ms. Monahan claims that the alleged physical altercation occurred early the next morning,
August 26, 2016.6 She states that she was lying sideways across the bed on her stomach with her
head toward the wall and her feet toward the door of the guest bedroom. She was listening to a
podcast on her phone. She claims Mr. Ellison entered the room and said: “Hey, I need you to take
the trash out.” She nodded her head but did not look up at him. According to Ms. Monahan, Mr.
Ellison then said “Hey I’m talking to you. You better listen to me!” in a raised voice. She said
she then turned her phone camera on to videotape and flipped the camera to face her. She said she
did so because she wanted to “get his voice on tape.” Ms. Monahan states that she held the phone
in her left hand as she continued to lie on her stomach. She responded, “I said yes.” He then said,
“Bitch, get the fuck out of my house. You’re a bad guest. I’m telling you to get the fuck out of
my house.” Ms. Monahan claims that Mr. Ellison then grabbed her ankles and tried to pull her off
the bed but she resisted by sinking her weight into the bed and holding on to the edge of the bed
with her right hand. She claims he then swatted at her slipper, which fell off her foot, and left the
bedroom, saying that she’d better be gone when he got home. According to Ms. Monahan, Mr.
Ellison then left the house on a trip and did not return that day.
Some public reports have stated that Mr. Ellison pulled or dragged Ms. Monahan off the
bed, but Ms. Monahan’s allegation is that he “tried” to pull her off the bed, but she was able to
remain stationary by holding on to the edge of the bed with one hand. Dragging off of the bed
would necessarily suggest that her body left the bed and made contact with the floor or another
object, and would suggest a different degree of physical contact than what is alleged here. Ms.
Monahan does not allege that she was physically injured or harmed in the incident.

6

Ms. Monahan initially claimed the incident occurred in September 2016. After reviewing the
calendar and surrounding events to put it in context, such as the transgender forum on August 25,
she agrees that the date at issue would have been August 26, 2016.
5

 Mr. Ellison states that to the best of his recollection, the morning after the argument
described above, he woke up and got ready to leave for a canoe trip. He recalls what he wore on
the trip. He believes Ms. Monahan was still sleeping when he left and does not recall speaking to
her at all that morning. He denies that, either that morning or at any time, he screamed and swore
at Ms. Monahan or grabbed her ankles and tried to pull her off the bed. Mr. Ellison denies any
incident of physical abuse at any time during the relationship and Ms. Monahan alleges no other
physical abuse or physical contact aside from the single incident.
C.

Events Subsequent to the Alleged Incident

Ms. Monahan claims that after the incident (on Friday August 26, 2016) she called a friend
and told him she and Keith had had a fight, he had called her a “bitch” and she was feeling like
“the lowest of the low.” She did not tell this friend or anyone else about the allegation of physical
abuse at this time. She stated that she immediately started looking for apartments and sought to
borrow money from friends in order to move out. She said by Sunday she had found an apartment
to sublet but it was not available for 1½ months. Mr. Ellison was out of town in the days following
the incident. Ms. Monahan said that she stayed for a few days at a friend’s home, which was
vacant and used as a spare home for guests, but then returned to Mr. Ellison’s home the next week.
Ms. Monahan claims that Mr. Ellison sent her a text over the weekend, telling her “he was sorry
and he didn't want her to leave.” Neither party produced those text messages or Ms. Monahan’s
responses, so I cannot assess the content of these conversations immediately following the alleged
incident. After she returned to his home that week, they made up and attended the Revolution
concert at First Avenue together on September 3, posting pictures of themselves on social media.
Ms. Monahan continued to live with Mr. Ellison for the next six weeks or so and then moved into
her own apartment at the end of October 2016.
Although no longer living together, Ms. Monahan stated that they continued to be
romantically involved. They attended several public events together. Mr. Ellison acknowledged
that during the period between October 2016 and January 2017, they explored reconciling and had
many discussions about how to make their relationship work. Mr. Ellison states that he still loved
Ms. Monahan but the terms of the relationship needed to change. He admitted they were intimate
on at least one occasion in December 2016 or January 2017, but maintains that during this time
period they were not “back together” and Mr. Ellison felt he was free to see other people. Mr.
Ellison recalls an argument in October 2016 where he told Ms. Monahan, “You’re not my
girlfriend,” to which she responded, “I am your girlfriend.” He claims he responded, “then we
need to talk about how to move forward,” and they discussed how things needed to change for the
relationship to work. Mr. Ellison admitted to becoming involved with two other women during
the late 2016 to early 2017 time frame. He does not view this as being unfaithful as he considered
himself and Ms. Monahan to be broken up, despite continuing to explore reconciliation.
Ms. Monahan has a different view of their relationship during the October 2016 – January
2017 time frame. Ms. Monahan’s suspicions of infidelity were escalating in late 2016 and when
she found evidence that Mr. Ellison was seeing other women (which he admits), she took it to
confirm those suspicions. Ms. Monahan says she broke up with Mr. Ellison on January 15, 2017
and “never went back.” Ms. Monahan began posting about narcissism and “gaslighting” (a form

6

 of emotional abuse designed to plant seeds of self-doubt and alter the victim’s perception of
reality), on about January 23, 2017.
During the December 2016 and January 2017 time frame, Ms. Monahan talked to friends
about her relationship with Mr. Ellison. These witnesses stated the following:


One long-time friend stated that in late 2016, Ms. Monahan contacted him because
she was upset and wanted help getting her things from Mr. Ellison’s house. This
friend said Ms. Monahan told him about the incident of Mr. Ellison trying to drag
her off the bed, and expressed that she was scared of Mr. Ellison. He said while
she discussed the altercation, the primary subject was asking him to assist her in
retrieving her things from Mr. Ellison’s house.



Another friend who lives in Ms. Monahan’s apartment building and met her for the
first time when she moved there in late October 2016, stated that in about a month
of Ms. Monahan moving in, Ms. Monahan described the incident to her. She
recalled Ms. Monahan stating that Mr. Ellison “asked her to do a chore and then
cursed at her and pulled her to the bottom of the bed.” This friend recalls discussing
the alleged emotional abuse, which the friend thought was “a bigger deal” than the
physical altercation.



Another individual who had been friends with both Mr. Ellison and Ms. Monahan
for several years and has lived with Ms. Monahan, stated that Ms. Monahan told
her “the entire story including the incident on the bed” in January 2017. This friend,
considered “more important” than the bed altercation the “years of gaslighting and
cheating” described by Ms. Monahan.



Another long-time friend of both parties met with Ms. Monahan in late December
2016 or early January 2017. She described Ms. Monahan as overwrought and
incoherent, talking at length about Mr. Ellison being a narcissist. This friend
recalled Ms. Monahan mentioning “the last night we were together” where she was
on the bed with her headphones on and Mr. Ellison kept telling her to get out and
that she had to be out when he got back from a trip. According to this witness, Ms.
Monahan did not mention the allegation that Mr. Ellison pulled on her leg while
she was on the bed. This friend viewed the situation as a “bad breakup and a messy
end of a relationship.” In May or June 2017, this friend met again with Ms.
Monahan and again was concerned for her mental state. She thought Ms. Monahan
was “obsessing” about Mr. Ellison being a narcissist. This friend decided she
needed to disconnect from Ms. Monahan. She became upset when she saw Austin
Monahan’s post of August 11, 2018 because she believed it to be false and unfair
to Mr. Ellison.

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A supervisor at Ms. Monahan’s work was aware of “chaos” during the break-up of
Ms. Monahan and Mr. Ellison and observed gradual changes in Ms. Monahan:
losing focus, having difficulty communicating clearly, isolating herself, and being
unable to set boundaries. The supervisor had frequent contact with Ms. Monahan
7

 and Ms. Monahan confided in her on a personal level. The supervisor did not recall
Ms. Monahan telling her about the alleged incident, however. She believes she first
learned about the alleged physical abuse when it became public in August 2018.
In March 2017, Ms. Monahan contacted a close colleague of Mr. Ellison very upset about
the alleged cheating and the fact that she had found text messages on his phone to and from other
women. They spoke for approximately 1½ hours by phone. The colleague said he realized Ms.
Monahan was “fishing” for information as to Mr. Ellison’s alleged infidelities. Ms. Monahan was
incensed that Mr. Ellison had moved on romantically with MH and later sent this colleague a text
about how old MH was. The colleague was also concerned at this time about Ms. Monahan’s
mental health. The colleague stated that Ms. Monahan never mentioned abuse or the incident
during this long phone conversation. He stated that he had spent a lot of time with Mr. Ellison and
Ms. Monahan and observed “lots of verbal arguments” between them and lots of “cursing.”
After January 15 and throughout 2017, Ms. Monahan and Mr. Ellison kept in fairly regular
contact. They communicated frequently about setting up times for Ms. Monahan to either retrieve
her things from Mr. Ellison’s house or for Mr. Ellison to deliver them to her. The two also met in
person on several occasions to discuss and process their relationship. Ms. Monahan describes this
entire year as her effort to offer Mr. Ellison “restorative justice,” “a way for Mr. Ellison to get the
help he needs.” Mr. Ellison eventually felt that these meetings were not resolving anything and
there was no point in continuing them.
Ms. Monahan often texted Mr. Ellison about narcissism and narcissist abuse. She told Mr.
Ellison that she had “read three books, listened to 100s of podcast[s], read 100s of articles,” joined
a “quantum freedom healing recovery program,” as well as group therapy and individual
counseling specializing in narcissism abuse. She sent Mr. Ellison numerous text messages opining
at length on their relationship and the ways in which she felt his narcissistic personality had
impacted and traumatized her.
Many of Mr. Ellison’s responses to Ms. Monahan’s texts accusing him of narcissism were
conciliatory. In one text, Mr. Ellison said he had read and watched all of the videos she had sent
him [presumably video regarding narcissist abuse] and though he did not see how the “narcissism
thing fits me,” he would seriously consider all of it. In other texts he apologized for saying unkind
things, for “his part” and for letting her down, but maintained that he was a small part in all the
things she has gone through that have caused her pain. Ms. Monahan was unrelenting in her
accusations that he had caused her PTSD because of the “gaslighting, lies, manipulation, abuse.”
She told him she wanted “restorative justice.” Eventually, Mr. Ellison asked her to leave him alone,
move on and go their separate ways. At other times during 2017, however, Mr. Ellison would
send Ms. Monahan text messages reminiscing about fond memories of them together at various
places and expressing that he missed her and had made a mistake asking her to go. When asked
about these texts, Mr. Ellison stated that he had been very much in love with Ms. Monahan, and
he sought to “get on a cordial footing” with her, but did not want to get back together with her and
by the end of 2017 was trying to avoid her.

8

 With respect to Austin Monahan’s statement that he had seen texts from Mr. Ellison that
would “bully her, and threaten her if she went public,” I believe that refers to a text in May 2017
which states:
No one can stop you from printing your thoughts about whatever in a diary. But
Karen I cannot allow you to publish material about me. You may not publish
material about our relationship Karen. I mean it. Please don’t’ make me prove to
you that I am serious. Don’t do this. It violates my privacy. Just like when you
stole my phone and read everything, took screen shots, shared them widely. You
my [sic] stop this. Why can’t you just move on.
Mr. Ellison explained that his statement “don’t make me prove to you that I’m serious,” referred
to him contemplating legal action.
On October 29, 2017, Ms. Monahan sent Mr. Ellison a long text message stating, “I actually
know a person who couldn’t deal with being treated normal in a relationship … and went out
looking for admiration and ‘specialness.’” The text went on for four phone screens opining in the
third person about how this “person” would act. In the middle of this text message, Ms. Monahan
wrote: “They were pathological liars, they tried to grab them by the leg, drag them off the bed and
tell them to get the fuck out, they would have a rage that was due to a psychotic breakdown, when
they would get caught in lies. …” Mr. Ellison responded, “Um hm interesting. I think I understand
the whole picture now. Karen, how come you can’t simply say, no Keith that doesn’t fit me. I
don’t identify with what you describe?” On December 17, 2017, Ms. Monahan wrote another text
that begins, “Keith, We never discussed –the video I have of you trying to drag me off the bed,
yelling get the fuck out now, calling me a bitch and saying I hate you bitch.” The message
continues for several phone-screen lengths. There is no response and Mr. Ellison does not recall
reading the December 17 text message or seeing any reference to “trying to drag me off the bed”
or a video. He said he would sometimes not read her lengthy text messages and believes he would
remember it if he had seen Ms. Monahan’s reference to having a video of that alleged conduct.
On December 31, 2017, Ms. Monahan wrote a letter to MH, Mr. Ellison’s current
girlfriend. In that letter, Ms. Monahan told MH that she had “impacted [Ms. Monahan’s] personal
life journey”; she questioned MH’s motives for interjecting herself into Ms. Monahan’s
relationship with Mr. Ellison, and stated that MH had not considered Mr. Ellison’s well-being and
how he and his family would be “hurt and impacted negatively” by her actions. “But you didn’t
take that into account. You thought of your needs, what you wanted, your desires and it didn’t
matter who it hurt.” She ended the letter with the following quotes: “For a while the fools mischief
taste sweet, sweet as honey. But in the end it turns bitter. And how bitterly he/she suffers.” “If
you are happy at the expense of another man’s/woman’s happiness, you are forever bound.” “To
understand everything is to forgive everything.”
At some point Mr. Ellison blocked Ms. Monahan on his phone, but later unblocked her
number. In March 2018, Ms. Monahan sent Mr. Ellison copies of texts she claimed were from
her friends making derogatory comments about MH’s age and appearance. In May 2018, she
texted Mr. Ellison that she had run out of gas and he left a meeting and brought her some.

9

 On Sunday June 3, 2018, Ms. Monahan texted Mr. Ellison, asking him to meet with her to
discuss the legal case of a friend’s daughter who was in prison. She wanted to meet between
Sunday and Wednesday before she left on a trip to Texas. Mr. Ellison agreed and they met the
evening of Monday June 4, 2018 at a Caribou Coffee at the Knollwood Mall. According to Ms.
Monahan, the topic of the meeting quickly changed from discussing her friend to Mr. Ellison
asking her how long she was going to send out tweets about narcissism, stating he did not want to
“keep looking over his shoulder” and she was ruining his career. Ms. Monahan then said
something to the effect of “This is not about you. You know what you did to me, you put your
hands on me.” Mr. Ellison stated “I don’t remember it going that way.” Ms. Monahan then said
“Are you serious? I have a video!” and Mr. Ellison responded, “Show me.” Ms. Monahan says
she just walked away, got into her car, and left.
Mr. Ellison acknowledged that during the meeting on June 4 he asked Ms. Monahan why
she calls him a narcissist all the time on social media and told her it is harmful to him to put all of
that out there publicly. He said Ms. Monahan then asked him, “How’s [MH]?” to which he replied,
“what’s it matter?” According to Mr. Ellison, Ms. Monahan then said “you know I have a tape.”
He said, “let me see it”; she said “no” and walked away.
The next day, June 5, Mr. Ellison filed to run for Attorney General. Ms. Monahan
acknowledged she was aware at the time she requested the meeting that Mr. Ellison was
considering running for Attorney General. She admits Mr. Ellison’s act of placing his name in the
race was a triggering point for her as it “screamed entitlement.” She said she realized restorative
justice was never going to happen and, after struggling with “fear versus speaking out” for a long
time, she decided she was finally ready to tell her story. She had “taken agency” and knew she
needed to speak out for other survivors of abuse. Ms. Monahan said she had been contacted
previously by a reporter in response to her tweets about narcissist abuse but had not responded;
after the June 4 meeting and his June 5 filing, she decided to contact the press and started working
with CNN to tell her story. At the same time, Ms. Monahan told me she does not believe her
allegations against Mr. Ellison disqualify him from being Attorney General and she “is okay with
him winning.”
Ms. Monahan began treatment with a psychologist on June 6, 2018.7 The therapy notes
from that date (disclosed with Ms. Monahan’s consent) indicate that Ms. Monahan told her
therapist Mr. Ellison was a narcissist and cheated with multiple women. The notes further indicate:
“incident – dragged her out of bed yelling ‘fuck you bitch’ ‘I hate you’ kids saw on video”
Ms. Monahan states that sometime in mid-2017, her sons borrowed her laptop and found a
folder on her desktop where she had saved the video of the incident along with numerous text
messages and tweets from and regarding Mr. Ellison. According to Ms. Monahan, at that time she
was still in the process of healing and was not ready for her story to be made public, so she urged
her sons not to tell anyone and they reluctantly kept silent. After her sons had seen the materials
7

Ms. Monahan had sought medical treatment for anemia in November 2017. The medical records
reflect that she stated at that appointment that she had been subjected to “emotional and physical
abuse” by a partner in a former relationship, whom she identified as Congressman Ellison, but
contained no details regarding the alleged physical abuse.
10

 on her computer, she alleges she saved them to a flash drive and packed it in a box that is now in
storage along with about 100 boxes at her ex-husband’s house. Ms. Monahan stated that this
summer, when her son Austin knew she was ready to speak publicly, he wanted to “jump out
ahead” and made the Facebook post on August 11. Ms. Monahan said she was shocked that he
mentioned the video as she had never planned to release either the video or the text messages when
she told her story. She had not planned to “prove” her story with corroboration beyond her own
word. Once Austin made the post, however, she went into “mom mode” and felt she needed to
confirm the existence of the video so that he was not “left out to dry.” In her public interviews,
Ms. Monahan has provided different reasons for not releasing the video. She has stated that it was
misplaced, that it is too embarrassing and traumatic, that it is on a flash drive packed away in boxes
in storage, and that she should not have to prove that she is telling the truth. I offered to view the
video privately but Ms. Monahan ultimately refused to allow me to see it.

V.

FACTUAL FINDINGS

I have been asked to make a determination as to whether the physical incident alleged by
Ms. Monahan can be substantiated. This determination involves weighing all of the evidence
described above as well as assessing the credibility of the witnesses involved. It is important to
clarify the scope of the evidence considered to make that determination. In 2006, another woman,
Amy Alexander, accused Mr. Ellison of grabbing her and threatening her. Mr. Ellison denied
those allegations. At the time, the Star Tribune investigated the allegations, including interviewing
witnesses identified by Alexander, but the paper was unable to corroborate her claims. A court
granted Ellison a restraining order against Alexander in June 2005 based on allegations that she
was harassing him, and denied a similar request by Alexander. Several facts uncovered during the
Star Tribune’s investigation called into serious doubt the credibility and motives of Ms. Alexander.
Given the lack of reliability around the twelve-year-old allegation by Ms. Alexander, issues
relating to that relationship or her allegation were not considered and thus do not support any
suggestion of a pattern of conduct.
In contrast to those allegations, Mr. Ellison’s ex-wife, Kim Ellison, publicly stated, “I want
members of our community to know that the behavior described does not match the character of
the Keith I know.” I interviewed Ms. Ellison and she firmly stated that Mr. Ellison had never
engaged in any abuse, physical or otherwise, “before, during, or after” their twenty-five-year
marriage. I also sought to review the divorce records of Keith and Kim Ellison, which are the
subject of a subpoena issued by the Star Tribune. Mr. Ellison’s attorney, Carla Kjellberg,
responded that they could not share those records as Mr. Ellison is currently in process of moving
to seal the records based on the privacy concerns of both parties; sharing those records with me, a
third party, would likely defeat Mr. Ellison’s ability to ask that the records remain sealed. Ms.
Kjellberg represented to me that Mr. Ellison denies that the divorce records contain any allegation
of abuse against him. Further, as part of his motion, Mr. Ellison will request the court to review
the divorce records in camera and ask the court to publicly disclose any allegation against Mr.
Ellison of any kind of abuse mentioned in those records. Beyond Kim Ellison’s statement,
therefore, I was not able to consider other evidence regarding that relationship which might be
contained in the divorce records. I also did not probe into any past relationships of Ms. Monahan,
and focus my findings on the relationship between Mr. Ellison and Ms. Monahan.

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 Ms. Monahan is ardent in her belief8 that she was a victim of Mr. Ellison’s alleged
manipulation and infidelity and wants now to tell her story and help other survivors. Although
focused primarily on the alleged infidelity and “gaslighting,” she is unwavering in her claim that
the alleged physical altercation occurred, describing it with a high level of specificity and detail,
which lends credibility to the allegation. Her allegation that during the incident Mr. Ellison
screamed “get the fuck out of my house,” and said she’d “better be out by the time he came home,”
shares a common theme with Mr. Ellison’s statement that during the argument the night of August
25 he raised the issue that she needed to find another place to live. He states that she became angry
and said, “You’re kicking me out?!”
Ms. Monahan admits she did not immediately tell anyone about the alleged incident, other
than to tell a friend that she and Mr. Ellison had a fight and she felt like “the lowest of the low.”
The delay in reporting is common in abuse victims. Ms. Monahan’s disclosure to friends in
December 2016 and January 2017 that Mr. Ellison had subjected her to emotional and physical
abuse roughly corresponds to the time period when Ms. Monahan, considering them in a
monogamous relationship, began to discover that Mr. Ellison was seeing other women, which
validated her long-standing suspicions. The fact that Ms. Monahan spoke to several people about
the incident four or five months after it supposedly occurred – and a year and a half before the
public release of the allegations – lends credibility to them. Some of the witnesses considered the
emotional abuse described by Ms. Monahan as more significant than the allegation of physical
abuse. Ms. Monahan’s witnesses all stated emphatically that they believe Ms. Monahan. One
witness also knows Ms. Monahan’s son Austin and vouched for his credibility.
Ms. Monahan also referenced the alleged incident in two text messages to Mr. Ellison in
late 2017, although she did not claim to have raised or discussed the alleged incident with him at
any point for over a year after it allegedly occurred on August 26, 2016. One message on October
29, 2017, purporting to describe the characteristics of some third “person” but clearly directed at
Mr. Ellison, included the following sentence: “they tried to grab them by the leg, drag them off
the bed and tell them to get the fuck out.” On December 17, 2017 Ms. Monahan texted: “Keith,
We never discussed –the video I have of you trying to drag me off the bed, yelling get the fuck out
now, calling me a bitch and saying I hate you bitch.”
In addition, Ms. Monahan reported physical abuse and/or the alleged incident to two
doctors. On November 28, 2017, Ms. Monahan sought treatment for the primary complaint of
anemia. In that examination she stated that she was in a “very stressful environment for years,
emotional and physical abuse by a partner with whom she is now separated” and identified Mr.
Ellison as the partner. She admitted in this examination that she had never had physical injuries
that required a physical examination in the past. She provided no details regarding the allegation
of “physical abuse” and there were other sections of the medical records that were not shared with
me. On June 6, 2018, Ms. Monahan started treating with a psychologist. The notes from that
Qualifying Ms. Monahan’s allegation about Mr. Ellison’s infidelity as her belief and her
perception does not suggest that Ms. Monahan’s deeply held feelings of betrayal by Mr. Ellison
are not valid or warranted based on her understanding of their relationship at that time. But it is
beyond the scope of this investigation to resolve whether Mr. Ellison’s admitted relationships with
other women at that time constituted infidelity.
8

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 session indicate Ms. Monahan reported that Mr. Ellison “dragged her out of bed yelling “fuck you
bitch,” “I hate you.” While this later set of treatment notes specifically reference the alleged
incident, they reflect an inconsistent depiction of the allegation, i.e. that Mr. Ellison “dragged her
out of bed.” Ms. Monahan’s first treatment with a psychologist was June 6, 2018 – two days after
she requested a meeting with Mr. Ellison and one day after he formally announced his run for
Attorney General, which Ms. Monahan admits angered her because it “screamed entitlement.”
On the other side, Mr. Ellison was credible in his denial of the allegations and truly seemed
not to recall the incident ever happening. He presented as sincere in his shock, hurt, and disbelief
that Ms. Monahan would make these allegations against him. I recognize that Mr. Ellison has
strong motives to deny these allegations, but also that it is difficult to prove that something did not
occur. Mr. Ellison painted a convincing picture of Ms. Monahan as being suspicious, questioning,
and aggressively accusing him of lying and cheating. Mr. Ellison described his response on August
25 after Ms. Monahan had accused him of lying and cheating as fairly rational – he admitted lying
and realized they needed to break up because she didn’t trust him and he could not be truthful with
her. During his interview, Mr. Ellison acknowledged it was a tough and emotional moment, and
that his voice “matched her voice,” but denied they were yelling. In contrast, Ms. Monahan
described him as slowly seething in the face of the confrontation until he flew into a rage. A
mutual friend who had talked to both parties understood the breakup to be ugly and messy.
Another mutual friend who has known both parties for years said she had seen Mr. Ellison be
“crabby and dismissive” but never exhibit uncontrolled anger or rage. Kim Ellison denied that he
had ever engaged in any physical abuse during their 25-year marriage.
Also supporting Mr. Ellison’s denial of the allegations is the fact that Ms. Monahan left at
his home a notebook with her personal notes made on January 2, 2017. The entire notebook is
filled with a “therapeutic” type of writing. It is written to herself, “Dear Karen,” and starts with
the phrase “Have integrity” repeated several times, and contains positive affirmations to “stay
stronger than any pain,” etc. The notes opine about her healing process and the pain and hurt she
suffered, and chronicle the breakdown of the relationship. In this journal, Ms. Monahan mentions
Mr. Ellison’s infidelities and MH specifically and says “I will not take her to a back alley and box
the living shit out of her old ass.” She also writes, “Keith is a good person and I know this from
my core. I have no place to judge him because I have done the same thing.” The journal does not
mention the alleged incident of physical abuse. I asked Ms. Monahan why the notes did not
reference the incident and she indicated that they were just notes of her healing process. She did
not believe the absence of the reference signified anything. In my view, the notes confirm what
Ms. Monahan’s friends believed, that the primary issue was the emotional damage allegedly
inflicted by Mr. Ellison (and she inconsistently raised the allegation about the physical incident).
Indeed, the central focus of Ms. Monahan’s statements to me as well as the vast majority of
evidence she provided to me relates to her mounting suspicion in late 2016 and eventual discovery
in January 2017 that Mr. Ellison was involved in intimate relationships with other women at the
same time she believed she and Mr. Ellison were still together. Again, without intending to
diminish these allegations, it is simply beyond the scope of this report to resolve the causes of Ms.
Monahan’s emotional state.
Mr. Ellison insists that he did not cheat during the relationship but admits he was
romantically involved with two other women (one of whom is his current girlfriend MH) in late
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 2016 and early 2017 when he and Ms. Monahan were not officially together but were still
exploring reconciliation. Mr. Ellison believes Ms. Monahan could not accept that he moved on to
another serious relationship so quickly, as evidenced by Ms. Monahan’s letter to MH and continual
references to her as recently as their meeting on June 4, 2018 when she allegedly asked “How’s
[MH]” before mentioning the video. He feels this jealousy and belief that he was not faithful to
her is motivating the current allegations.
The timing of the public release of Ms. Monahan’s allegations is also a factor that must be
considered in assessing the credibility of the parties. Ms. Monahan’s son posted the allegations
regarding Mr. Ellison three days prior to the primary election, inevitably creating suspicion as to
the motive behind the disclosure. In his August 11 post, Austin Monahan tagged Debra Hillstrom,
Mr. Ellison’s opponent in the Attorney General primary, which could suggest some political
motive. Additionally, Ms. Monahan admittedly contacted Mr. Ellison two days before the filing
deadline in the Attorney General’s race to seek a meeting. The meeting occurred the day before
the filing deadline and Ms. Monahan mentioned the existence of a video at that meeting. Ms.
Monahan denies the timing was politically motivated, explaining that after more than a year of
working on her healing process, she was finally ready to tell her story and her son came out with
it first to show his support. She has said “no time would be a good time.” But Ms. Monahan also
admitted that she struggled with the timing vis a vis the election and made a conscious decision
not to go public just ahead of a general election. She admitted Mr. Ellison’s filing for Attorney
General triggered her decision to move forward with publicizing her story.
Finally, last but certainly not least is the alleged videotape. According to Austin Monahan,
the video is almost two minutes long and “showed Keith Ellison dragging my mama off the bed
by her feet.” But based on Ms. Monahan’s description of the alleged incident, it is unclear what
was recorded for two full minutes. And as discussed above, Ms. Monahan does not allege she was
dragged off the bed. Thus, Mr. Monahan’s account of what he viewed on the video at least appears
inconsistent with the actual conduct alleged. But neither Austin Monahan, nor Justin Monahan
who was also said to have viewed the tape, would make themselves available for an interview to
explain and potentially clarify these possible discrepancies.
As discussed above, Ms. Monahan’s articulated reasons for not releasing the videotape
have shifted throughout her public interviews. She has stated that the videotape is embarrassing
and traumatizing for her, and that she should not have to “prove” her allegations with a tape. She
has also said the video is misplaced, and saved onto a flash drive packed somewhere in boxes in
storage at her ex-husband’s house. I asked Ms. Monahan to allow me to view the videotape and
assured her I would not share the tape with anyone or release it publicly. As I told Ms. Monahan,
the withholding of a videotape that she has affirmatively represented to exist as proof her
allegations necessarily creates doubt around her allegation.9
Nonetheless, Ms. Monahan ultimately refused to show me the video, stating that she has
been bullied on social media over the videotape and has decided not to cave to the pressure. With
9

Prior to the release of this report, I was instructed to contact Ms. Monahan again to provide her
a final opportunity to allow me to privately view the videotape. Ms. Monahan did not return my
text message or email sent on September 26, 2018.
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 respect to Ms. Monahan’s assertion that women should be believed and should not have to prove
their allegations, I certainly agree that women (and men) subject to abuse should be able to come
forward without fear of retribution and that all such claims should be taken seriously and
investigated. But an allegation standing alone is not necessarily sufficient to conclude that conduct
occurred, particularly where the accusing party declines to produce supporting evidence that she
herself asserts exists. The accusing party’s statement must be evaluated in light of the available
evidence, including the accused party’s response, a credibility assessment of both parties and any
witnesses, and corroborating evidence if it exists.
Here, Ms. Monahan has affirmatively represented that a videotape of an incident – not
witnessed by anyone else – exists and proves her allegations are true. Ms. Monahan contends it
was her son, without her knowledge and permission, who first disclosed the existence of a
videotape and she never intended to publicly release the tape. Inconsistent with that explanation,
however, Ms. Monahan herself has raised the videotape multiple times. She referenced it in a text
message to Mr. Ellison in December 2017. She mentioned it to him on June 4, 2018. She
referenced it in her session with her psychologist on June 6, 2018. She has stated on social media
and to news outlets that a video exists. She has thus repeatedly placed the existence of the video
front and center to her allegations, but then has refused to disclose it. My offer to privately view
the video dispenses with one of her reasons for withholding it, the embarrassment and trauma of
public disclosure. While I understand Ms. Monahan’s rationale of not wanting to succumb to the
bullying and pressure to prove her story, 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. Even assuming the video exists, I question whether it would
verify the events exactly as Ms. Monahan has described them, and whether there is something on
the video that she does not want to be revealed.
In conclusion, while it is clear that the relationship between Ms. Monahan and Mr. Ellison
was tumultuous and Ms. Monahan has suffered emotionally, the only question that this report was
asked to address is whether there is sufficient evidence to substantiate a claim of physical abuse.
While the specificity of the allegation, the corroboration of Ms. Monahan’s allegation by three of
her friends several months later, and Ms. Monahan’s reference to this incident several times over
the past year and a half weigh in support of such a finding, questions about Ms. Monahan and her
son’s account of the incident, the timing of the allegations throughout the two-year period since it
allegedly occurred, and Mr. Ellison’s vehement denial weigh against such a finding. Ms. Monahan
claims to possess evidence that could conclusively corroborate her allegation as well as potentially
answer all of the questions surrounding it, if it occurred, but Ms. Monahan has chosen to withhold
that evidence. That the accusing party claims to have but refuses to provide key, dispositive
evidence that the accused has flatly denied, causes me to conclude that the allegation is
unsubstantiated.

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