Peter Hasson, DCNF

• One week after pledging to review domestic abuse allegations against Rep. Keith Ellison, the DNC has yet to provide any answers to the public on where it stands.
• Ellison is the deputy chair of the DNC and the Democratic Party’s nominee for Minnesota attorney general.
• One of Ellison’s former primary opponents on Monday called law enforcement to investigate the Ellison allegations.
• Karen Monahan claims to have video proving Ellison’s abuse but has yet to make it public.

One week after the Democratic National Committee (DNC) announced it was “reviewing” domestic abuse allegations against Minnesota Democratic Rep. Keith Ellison, the DNC has yet to provide the public with any updates on the allegations against him.

Ellison, the deputy chair of the DNC, is accused of physically and emotionally abusing his ex-girlfriend, liberal Sierra Club activist Karen Monahan. Ellison has vehemently denied Monahan’s allegations.

The DNC released a statement Aug. 14, just hours before Ellison locked up the party’s nomination for Minnesota attorney general, pledging to review the Ellison allegations, which the committee said “should be taken seriously.”

“These allegations recently came to light and we are reviewing them,” the DNC said in a statement, after initially remaining silent for 72 hours after the allegations came to light. “All allegations of domestic abuse are disturbing and should be taken seriously.”

But one week later, the DNC has yet to provide the public with any updates on its review, raising questions about just how seriously the committee is about addressing the controversy. The DNC did not respond to The Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for an update on the Ellison allegations.

Adding to those questions is DNC chairman Tom Perez’s relaxed attitude toward the Ellison allegations.

Perez dismissed the notion that Democrats’ electoral chances would suffer as a result of the domestic abuse allegations against the Democratic Party’s number two official — allegations at which Perez assured reporters the DNC is “absolutely taking a careful look.”

One of Ellison’s former Democratic primary opponents, Tom Foley, argued in an op-ed Monday that the Ellison allegations “deserve a serious investigation by local law enforcement as well as by the DFL Party and the Democratic National Committee (DNC).”

Foley noted that the allegations — and Democrats’ timid response to them — could seriously the Democratic Party’s claims to take sexual and domestic abuse seriously.

“Will Democrats, quietly hoping the abuse video does not exist or other possible victims never step forward, risk wearing heavily the crown of hypocrisy by applying a double standard because the alleged abuser is one of ‘our’ guys? Will this affect DFL efforts to become the majority in the state House? Will the integrity of the attorney general’s office be undermined if led by an accused domestic abuser?” Foley asked.

“These questions are now in play. However, they should be secondary to investigating what happened to Karen Monahan. How this case is handled also will send a clear message to past and future victims if Monahan is treated differently because her alleged abuser enjoys a certain kind of political power and national prestige,” he added.

Monahan claims to have a video backing up her claim that Ellison dragged her off of a bed and yelled expletives at her, although she has yet to produce the video. Ellison has denied the video exists and has challenged Monahan to produce it.

Ellison’s hometown paper, the Minnesota Star-Tribune, agreed with the congressman Monday in an editorial that argued the burden of proof is on Monahan.

Three of Monahan’s friends told CNN she informed them about Ellison’s alleged abuse shortly after the incident is said to have happened.

Monahan’s son Austin first aired the allegations against Ellison on Aug. 11 and claimed to have witnessed the alleged video proving Ellison’s abuse.

“I was using my moms computer trying to download something and I clicked on a file, I found over 100 text and twitters messages and video almost 2 min long that showed 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,” Austin wrote in a viral Facebook post.

“Sitting all this time, watching what our mom went through and not being able to say or do anything was hard as hell. None of you know the hell our family has gone through. I don’t think half of you would even care,” Austin added.

“We watched her so called political friends stand by say or do nothing. People had an idea what happened and never reached out to my mom. The same people who are posting about social justice are ready to smear my mom, protect a person who abused her and broke the law.”

Follow Hasson on Twitter @PeterJHasson

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