Ernst opens up about past assaults

Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) in a new interview with Bloomberg News opened up about her past experiences with assault, alleging she experienced attacks at the hands of her ex-husband and a boyfriend in college.

Ernst during the interview addressed the allegations, publicized this week in court documents, that her husband physically assaulted her during an argument years ago. 

{mosads}The Iowa Republican, a prominent ally of President Trump, also during the interview said that she was raped by an abusive ex-boyfriend in college at Iowa state University.

Ernst told the outlet that her unnamed boyfriend in college was “physically and sexually abusive.” She said that he raped her at his home one night, and then later threatened to kill himself if she broke up with him.

She did not tell the police, she said, but alerted the campus sexual assault counseling center’s hotline before ending their relationship. A man who knew Ernst at the time vouched that she told him about the assault shortly after it happened, according to Bloomberg News. 

Ernst later wrote about volunteering at that counseling center without disclosing her previous engagement with it.

“I was embarrassed,” Ernst told Bloomberg News. “I didn’t know how to explain it. I was so humiliated. And I’m a private person, when it comes to those things.”

Ernst also told the outlet about her allegation her ex-husband, Gail Ernst, attacked her physically when they were married. She said they were arguing about a woman when he “grabbed me by the throat with his hands and threw me on the landing floor.”

“And then he pounded my head … on the landing,” Ernst continued. “It was very sudden and very violent. It scared me.”

Ernst said that she told a victim’s advocate about the incident but decided to move ahead in her marriage with the aid of couple’s counseling.

“He said that it would never happen again and blah-blah-blah. And it didn’t,” Ernst said. “But there was always that underlying threat.”

She and Gail Ernst announced last year that they are getting divorced. Court documents earlier this week revealed that Ernst alleges physical abuse by him. 

Gail’s attorneys have so far declined to comment on reporting about Ernst’s allegations. He did not address them in the court documents. 

“I didn’t want to share it with anybody, and in the era of hashtag-MeToo survivors, I always believed that every person is different and they will confront their demons when they’re ready,” Ernst told Bloomberg News. “And I was not ready.”