Despite pressure to resign from his party’s top leaders, including the governor, Minnesota’s most controversial state legislator plans to remain in office and believes reports about his violent past were “doctored.”
That’s according to Rep. John Thompson’s attorney, Jordan Kushner, who in a bizarre statement posted on social media Sunday morning claimed that his client was the victim of a “smear campaign” orchestrated by law enforcement interests.
He questioned the “authenticity” of the police reports that describe allegations of domestic abuse at the hands of Thompson, a first-term Democrat from St. Paul. The reports detail Thompson’s alleged abuse of multiple women in both Minnesota and Wisconsin between 2003 to 2010.
In two cases, Thompson allegedly exposed his penis in front of children and demanded his adult victims perform oral sex on him.
In the carefully-worded statement, Kushner also claimed that the “only person” Thompson “would have been with” at the time of the allegations was his wife.
“They have been a couple for 20 years,” he said, though a search of marriage certificates shows that the two weren’t officially married until last year. Additional records suggest that Thompson was married to a different woman until February 2011.
UPDATE: Public court documents show Rep. John Thompson was married to a separate woman until February 22, 2011 – just over 10 years ago. This new information further disproves the statement release by Thompson’s attorney about the length of his relationship with his current wife. https://t.co/nzGDEDHNn6 pic.twitter.com/NDUKHxuzfJ
— Michael Brodkorb (@mbrodkorb) July 18, 2021
“It is my understanding that the purported police reports were provided to reporters by persons associated with law enforcement groups. These are likely the same groups that have been constantly and vigorously waging a smear campaign against Mr. Thompson since his speech in Hugo, Minnesota, in August 2020,” Kushner added.
The attorney said his client “categorically” denies the allegations in the police reports, which would have been uncovered earlier if they were real, he claimed. Alpha News published the full police report from a 2004 incident in Eagan earlier this month.
“The police reports are a product of the campaign to silence an African American man who speaks out against powerful and abusive interests, and not the product of any effort to uncover truth,” Kushner concluded.
In a comment on Facebook, Kushner made it clear what he was implying: the reports were “doctored,” he claimed.
In a statement this morning, Rep. John Thompson's attorney claimed that the police reports describing the domestic abuse allegations against his client are "doctored" and the "product of a campaign to silence an African American man." pic.twitter.com/Avj2CkXpkh
— Alpha News (@AlphaNewsMN) July 18, 2021
Thompson is currently on trial for a 2019 incident and continues to face questions about whether he lives in the district he represents.
House Republicans plan to pursue an ethics complaint against Thompson Monday.
Alpha News first reported on Thompson’s domestic abuse charges in August 2020, before he was elected to the Minnesota House.
Since Thompson apparently plans to resist calls for his resignation, the responsibility now lies with House Speaker Melissa Hortman and Democratic leadership to hold Thompson accountable, the Minnesota GOP said in a statement Sunday.
“Since July 4, Rep. John Thompson has had multiple opportunities to take accountability for his decisions, choices, and actions,” said Chairwoman Jennifer Carnahan. “Instead of doing the right thing by resigning his position in the State House, Rep. Thompson continues to dig his heels in.”
Anthony Gockowski
Anthony Gockowski is Editor-in-Chief of Alpha News. He previously worked as an editor for The Minnesota Sun and Campus Reform, and wrote for the Daily Caller.
