Congressman Keith Ellison, who’s currently running to serve as Minnesota’s next attorney general, has vehemently denied the allegations of abuse against him, casting doubt on the credibility of accusers Karen Monahan and Amy Alexander.

During a post-primary debate Friday evening on Twin Cities PBS’ “Almanac” program, one of the moderators noted that 40 percent of Minnesota voters consider these allegations against the congressman to be a factor in whether or not they intend to vote for him come November.

In response, he tried discrediting both Monahan and Alexander, making it sound as if they were just spurned lovers. The reactions from both the debate moderators and his challenger, Republican candidate Doug Wardlow, suggest they didn’t believe him.

Listen:

“Let’s talk about Amy Alexander,” Ellison first said. “That was a case in 2005, when she was harassing me and my staff. I got an order for protection to have her not do that anymore. The judge awarded that in 2006 when I was running for Congress.”

“She filed a claim. It was denied by the judge for order of protection and then we went to a hearing and the judge said she was ordered to stop making the falsehoods against me and to not contact me at all.”

The evidence does not necessarily bear out this narrative. In a column Alexander penned in 2006 for The Wright County Republican, she spoke of an affair with Ellison that began in 1993 but quickly went downhill, spurring her to move out of state. The affair began anew in 2004 but again went downhill, with Ellison acting out violently this time.

“In May [of 2005], Keith wanted to try and quiet me so he came to my home uninvited,” she wrote. “We had words. His anger kicked in. He berated me. He grabbed me and pushed me out of the way. I was terrified. I called the police. As he fled he broke my screen door. I have never been so scared.”

While Ellison denies this ever happened, 911 call records obtained by investigate reporter Laura Loomer paint a different picture. And while it’s true Ellison did file a successful request for a restraining order against her, Alexander characterized the move as an attempt to “marginalize” her.

“He made this whole nightmare a matter of public record,” she wrote in her 2006 column, which may be seen below. “He silenced me. Now it’s my turn to be heard.”

Look:

The Truth About Keith Ellison by on Scribd

During the debate Friday, Ellison also addressed allegations by Monahan, who’s accused him of having been emotionally and physically abusive during a long-term relationship that ended in 2016. Her son has likewise claimed to have seen video footage of his mother being abused by Ellison.

“We were in a long-term relationship,” the congressman said Friday. “It ended two years ago. Two days before the primary, she made these allocations. They’re not true. I’ve said that they’re not true. I’ve answered questions and gone on to make these points clear. There is an ongoing investigation. It’s an independent investigation.”

It was at this point that the exasperated debate moderators began firing back, rightly noting that, one, the so-called “independent investigation” is actually being run by his political allies, and two, Ellison had rebuffed a request by Monahan to meet with him and his so-called “investigators.”

“Well, because I- we broke up two years ago for a reason,” he replied. “I didn’t want to be in the relationship and therefore, I left the relationship. And to get back in touch with her again is not something that I am interested in doing.”

And then came this doozy by one of the debate moderators: “Are you confident that no one else will step forward with any other allegations?”

Ellison replied by saying, “Look, in this political environment, I don’t know what somebody might cook up. But I could tell you that there is absolutely nobody that I am aware of who is threatening or suggesting or who has ever made a prior accusation about me.”

That was a very flimsy answer. Wardlow, who had until that point been quiet, then chimed in to note that the allegations against Ellison are “credible” and “strong.”

“There’s documentary evidence. We have a medical record where we have Monahan reported to her doctor the abuse that was going on,” he said.

True. This week Monahan posted pictures of doctor reports/notes from 2017 that corroborate her story and even name Ellison as her abuser:

When I post this, it gets deleted every time pic.twitter.com/uAJNx8AgF5 — Karen Monahan (@KarenMonahan01) September 19, 2018

Here is another medical record, 6 months before the other one.

I specifically went into the emotional/narc abuse during this visit because I needed more than routine test done due to the nature of that type of abuse.

Yes, the physical still occurred. pic.twitter.com/DGAafGAcJ8 — Karen Monahan (@KarenMonahan01) September 22, 2018

It’s unclear whether any of this damning evidence will make an impact on Minnesota’s likely Democrat voters. Only a 5 percent minority of them believe his accusers.