Karen Monahan, the former girlfriend of Keith Ellison (D-MN), claims that she secretly recorded the congressman when he allegedly physically assaulted her during their relationship.

Ellison has been under scrutiny ever since Austin Monahan, Karen’s son, claimed on Facebook that he saw a video on his mother’s computer that proved she was subjected to mental and physical abuse. Ellison is denying the allegations against him, saying “This video does not exist because I never behaved in such a way, and any characterization otherwise is false.”

CNN reached out to Monahan over the last few days, and she told reporters that she “misplaced” the video in storage after moving out of Ellison’s apartment in 2016. She also says that even once she finds the video, she still doesn’t want it publicly released because “it’s not on me to show embarrassing and traumatizing video that impacts both families.”

While the video is still MIA, three of Monahan’s friends, who asked to remain anonymous, told CNN that she spoke to them about Ellison’s abuse when they stopped living together. If these charges continue to build, it may very well disrupt Ellison’s efforts to win the primary election to become Minnesota’s attorney general.

From CNN’s report:

Monahan provided one text of her mentioning the physical altercation to Ellison in December 2017. “Keith, We never discussed — the video I have of you trying to drag me off the bed, yelling get the f*** out now, calling me a bitch and saying I hate you bitch,” the text message read. In follow up texts viewed by CNN, Ellison did not directly address the physical altercation. Other messages viewed by CNN do not specifically show incidents of verbal abuse.

[Image via screengrab]

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