Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez on Sunday morning dodged answering if he thought the ex-girlfriend of Congressman Keith Ellison was lying when she accused him of domestic abuse.
Ellison was accused by his ex-girlfriend, Karen Monahan, of domestic violence. The allegations triggered an investigation, which came back with a conclusion of the claims being “unsubstantiated,” because Monahan would not hand over a tape that shows the alleged abuse because she claims she was not fully clothed.
WATCH:
“The ex-girlfriend of your deputy at the DNC, Congressman Keith Ellison, is accusing him of domestic abuse. Now an investigation commissioned by the Minnesota Democratic Party was ‘Unable to substantiate the claim of physical abuse.’ Is that good enough? What do you say to women in the Democratic Party who say, why is this guy still the vice chair of the DNC?” host Jake Tapper asked on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
“What I say is that we should always take those complaints seriously and we do, and that’s why an investigation was conducted. That’s why Congressman Ellison asked for a House ethics investigation. And Democrats have never hesitated to take action, unlike Republicans. And you know what? Part of why we’re going to do so well —” Perez responded. (RELATED: Chairman Of Minnesota’s DFL Party Doesn’t Believe Monahan)
Tapper interrupted, “Wait a second. Democrats have never hesitated to take action, do you mean in the last year or do you mean historically? Because historically, I could go through a list of people.”
“Well, and, again, you saw what happened in Senator Franken’s situation. Democrats didn’t hesitate to do something, even if it was difficult. Because that was the right thing to do,” Perez added.
Despite Monahan’s allegations, Ellison is running for Minnesota Attorney General against Republican Doug Wardlow. Wardlow now has a seven-point lead over Ellison, according to a poll taken about two weeks before Election Day.
“So do you think Keith Ellison’s ex-girlfriend is lying, then? Is that what you’re saying?” Tapper asked. (RELATED: Keith Ellison Points To Allegations Against President Trump To Defend Himself)
“I think Keith Ellison’s ex-girlfriend deserves to be heard and deserves to be treated with dignity and deserves to have a fair and full investigation, and that’s exactly what has been done. I also believe that when women succeed, America succeeds,” Perez countered. “And the agenda of this administration is an agenda that’s making it much harder for women to succeed. And one of the reasons why Democrats are doing so well is that we are fielding candidates across this country.”
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