What evidence did Karen Monahan present publicly regarding allegations against Keith Ellison and how have news outlets verified it?
Executive summary
Karen Monahan publicly said she possesses a video showing Rep. Keith Ellison dragging her off a bed during a 2016 argument, released screenshots of medical notes she says document telling a doctor in 2017 that she had been abused, and made available text/social-media exchanges she said show a fraught relationship; she has repeatedly declined to make the video itself public or to share it with investigators on the record [1] [2] [3]. News organizations that reviewed the materials publicly accessible to them — including local outlets and Minnesota Public Radio — reported that texts and messages do not show physical assault, that there were no police or court records corroborating the allegation, and that investigators who reviewed the matter found the claims unsubstantiated in part because Monahan would not produce the video for independent review [4] [5] [6] [7].
1. What Monahan publicly presented: video claim, medical note, and messages
Monahan’s core public claim is that she has a near-two-minute video showing Ellison dragging her off a bed and shouting at her; her son initially posted about finding that video on a family computer and Monahan later confirmed on camera that a recording exists but that she would not publicly release it because of trauma and privacy concerns [1] [8]. In addition, Monahan posted what appears to be a 2017 medical progress-note printout in which she reportedly told a Park Nicollet provider she had been in an abusive relationship; she also released selected text and Twitter message exchanges with Ellison that depict a troubled relationship but, as multiple outlets noted, do not themselves contain footage or a contemporaneous police report [2] [3] [8].
2. How mainstream outlets verified — and where verification fell short
Reporters and outlets that examined the available materials found limits to independent verification: MPR and other news organizations reviewed more than 100 messages and concluded those communications contained no evidence of physical abuse, and multiple outlets noted the absence of police reports or court documents corroborating Monahan’s description of a physical incident [4] [7]. When Monahan posted the medical-document image, local papers like the Pioneer Press and public-affairs outlets said they could not authenticate the record because confirming it would violate patient-privacy rules and the health provider would not confirm the document’s veracity [2].
3. Official and quasi-official inquiries: decline to investigate and unsubstantiated finding
Minneapolis police announced they would not investigate the allegation due to perceived conflicts and jurisdictional complications, and a Minnesota DFL-commissioned inquiry ultimately described Monahan’s claims as unsubstantiated in large part because she would not provide the alleged video for review, a conclusion cited by both critics and defenders in subsequent coverage [6] [5]. The DFL/DNC context complicated investigative options: Ellison’s role in the party, and his adult son’s city-council position, were reported as factors that made some local authorities cautious about pursuing an investigation [5].
4. Competing narratives, political pressure, and evidentiary standards
Monahan and advocacy groups argued that survivors should be believed and said her medical notes and messages support her account of emotional and “narcissistic” abuse, while Ellison emphatically denied ever behaving as described and labeled the video claim false; political actors — including Ellison’s Republican opponent — amplified the documents in campaign contexts, and some DNC members cited the lack of an independently viewed video as a reason not to dismiss Ellison [9] [7] [10]. News outlets therefore framed verification around document authentication, the presence or absence of corroborating police or medical confirmations, and whether the alleged video could be independently examined [4] [5] [2].
5. What remains unresolved in reporting
Public reporting established that Monahan asserted a video exists and that she shared medical-note images and message excerpts, while independent journalistic reviews found no documentary proof of physical assault among the materials they could review and noted the absence of police or court records; but because Monahan did not make the alleged video available for independent review, and because patient-privacy rules limited direct confirmation of medical records, major aspects of the allegation remain unverified by third parties in the public record [1] [4] [2] [5].