The former girlfriend of Demoratic congressional candidate Benjamin Thomas Wolf is accusing the 'cannabis candidate' of physical and emotional abuse.

Wolf, who is is challenging incumbent Rep. Mike Quigley in a Chicago district and highlighting his push for legalization of marijuana, is accused by his ex Katarina Coates, of grabbing her and throwing her.

Coates didn't file a police report with the claims of abuse, but she did contact university officials where she was a student.

'He actually hit me, threw me to the ground, put his foot on my chest,' Coates told Politico.

Benjamin Thomas Wolf is a Democrat that is running for Congress in the Illinois 5th district

'He was really angry. He grabbed my face,' she said, detailing six incidents of abuse.

'I thought it was normal. I cannot explain the logic. It seemed like he cared about me when he did that,' she said

Then she described unusual efforts to try to make things up with her. 'After that time he stood on my chest, he went and took me for chocolate cake. I kind of associated it with his caring,' she said.

'There were times I would ask him, Do you ever regret hitting me?' He would say: 'No, but I'm relieved when you put your head down so I don't have to do it again.''

The news follows the resignation of White House staff secretary Rob Porter following claims of abuse by two ex-wives, as revealed by DailyMail.com.

Wolf has become known as the 'cannabis candidate' after he smoked a joint in a campaign ad. He has also come under scrutiny for how his resume has been used. He did work for several years as an investigator for the FBI, but is not in fact an FBI agent.

The Chicago Tribune looked into his resume and noted his campaign office has framed articles by Vice and Newsweek that refer to him as an 'Former FBI agent.' A campaign release also called him a 'former FBI agent.'

Pornhub has pulled Wolf's ads from its site after claims of abuse emerged.

Another ex, Kari Fitzgerald, who dated Wolf several years ago, said he had an 'abusive' personality, though made no allegations of physical abuse.

"When he thinks he's been wronged or threatened in any way he lashes out ... It's definitely a situation where he's escalating. There's abusive, escalating behavior he's demonstrating," she told Politico.

Wolf adamantly denied claims of abuse in an interview with the publication, and said Coates had harassed him, and that he filed police reports against her.

Benjamin Thomas Wolf, a pro-marijuana legalization Democrat who is running for Congress in the Illinois 5th district, came to prominence in early March 2018 when ads for his campaign appeared on Pornhub.

According to the Observer, Benjamin Thomas Wolf is the first politician to advertise on a porn website.

Pornhub has already been in the news recently, following its UK AgeID age verification tool and offer of lubricant to the city of Philadelphia.

In a tweet referring to the ad, Wolf wrote: 'I am communicating directly with young voters in Chicago and Illinois. Vote March 20th'.

Coates didn't file a police report with her abuse claim. But according to Politico, she complained to DePaul campus security, where she was a student, and Roosevelt University, Wolf says he taught.

After she wrote DePaul, an official emailed, indicating Wolf was barred from campus.

'Ben is not allowed in campus. He does know that as I told him that personally,' wrote Michael Dohm, deputy director of public safety at the school wrote Coates in an email she shared with the publication.

The congressional candidate has positioned himself as the 'cannabis candidate' and the ad shows Wolf holding a marijuana joint in front of a multi-coloured painting of the US flag with the message: 'Wolf For Congress. Legalize it March 20.'

He told the Observer that the Pornhub ad is 'worth the risk. I have nothing to lose here'.

However, it ultimately turns out he may have spoken too soon. Just one day after the interview and subsequent attention, Politico published disturbing allegations of physical and emotional abuse and highlighted Wolf's 'troubled past'.

The website went on to outline how Wolf ended up actually being banned from DePaul University, where Coates was a student, over a completely separate complaint by a professor, Jason Hill, after another student told them about an 'upsetting incident' with Wolf.

Hill said that Wolf learned of the complaint and ended up telling him to 'just commit suicide'.

Wolf denied the abuse claims and said that the allegations are 'politically motivated'.

'I walk around this city with a black leather jacket and leather boots and this city is scared of me,' Wolf told Politico.

'We are talking about sex and drugs, we have no corporate donors.'

However, following the abuse allegations, Pornhub decided to pull Wolf's ad from its site.

'We have instructed our ad network, TrafficJunky, to pull all of his ads in light of these allegations,' Pornhub Vice President Corey Price told Gizmodo in an email.

Who is Benjamin Thomas Wolf?

According to Benjamin Thomas Wolf's congressional campaign website, he was born in Ohio, completed an internship in Washington DC and went on to be recruited by the FBI, after which he worked for years 'within the National Security Division on the highest priority terrorism'.

On the website's 'Recognition' page, there are many links to articles referring to Wolf as a 'former FBI Agent', and a news release has the Wolf campaign describing him as a 'former FBI agent'.

He then transferred to the US State Department as worked as an 'American diplomat who 'loyally served four Secretaries of State and advised dozens of US ambassadors. His site also says he has 'served multiple times in Iraq'.

What are Benjamin Thomas Wolf's policies?

Benjamin Thomas Wolf is running on a platform that includes legalizing cannabis and hemp, universal healthcare and free higher education, as well as an 'immediate and indefinite banning of all assault weapons'.

Nope. I just use cannabis. Regularly. We have noticed that the system is slow and tedious to get medical cards. Lets just legalize it. Im formally reminding everyone that the March 20th primary in cook county IL has a referendum to legalize cannabis. Help me spread the word. — Benjamin Thomas Wolf (@benjaminwolfBTW) February 27, 2018

In February 2018, in the wake of the Florida school shooting, Wolf uploaded a video of him holding an AR-15, saying: 'There is no place in modern American society for assault weapons. As a U.S. Congressman, I will ensure they are banned immediately and indefinitely.'

It has been three weeks since the most recent school shooting involving an assault weapon and Congress has NOT addressed the issue. I will #BanAssaultWeapons #WolfForCongress https://t.co/WlXbgiKwB2 — Benjamin Thomas Wolf (@benjaminwolfBTW) March 3, 2018

Benjamin Thomas Wolf's role in the FBI and Iraq

Several publications have uncovered inconsistencies in Wolf's account of his background. The Chicago Tribune spoke to the FBI, which confirmed that Wolf was never an FBI agent, but rather a 'non-special agent professional support employee'.

The paper goes on to say how even though Wolf never explicitly claims to have served in the military, phrases used by his campaign such as 'multiple tours in Iraq' imply that he did.

In the letter announcing his candidacy, Wolf is described as an 'Iraq veteran'.

Wolf denies claiming to be either an FBI agent or a former soldier and told the Tribune: 'People are caught up in minor details. I don't care.'

When asked why Wolf shared a 2017 article that described him as a 'former FBI agent', he said; 'It's a great article' and that the inaccurate description didn't bother him.

'It's not a big enough deal.'

He also told Politico that he did not lie about his Iraq credentials: 'People in the military get upset when I say I served in Iraq. The military doesn't have a patent on the word 'served'.'