California recall candidate Larry Elder under police investigation following 2015 domestic violence accusation that his campaign denies

By Kyung Lah, Stella Chan and Jon Passantino, CNN

The Los Angeles Police Department is investigating domestic violence accusations against California Republican gubernatorial candidate Larry Elder — allegations he has denied.

“The department was made aware of domestic violence accusations against Larry Elder,” an LAPD spokesperson told CNN, but they said additional details on the allegations would not be made public “due to the confidential nature of domestic violence investigations.”

The police said in a statement to CNN that nothing would be made public until “allegations can be investigated thoroughly and submitted to the district attorney’s office for filing consideration.”

The accusations stem from alleged incidents in 2015 described to CNN by Elder’s then-fiancée and former employee Alexandra Datig and in a statement she filed with the LAPD on Wednesday and shared with CNN.

“Larry Elder brandished a weapon in conversation with me during our breakup. He checked to see if his gun was loaded,” Datig said to CNN in an interview earlier this month that occurred prior to her informing the police of the accusations.

In the statement provided to police, Datig also alleged Elder pushed her during an argument, claiming he was in a “drug induced” fit.

The Elder campaign did not respond to a CNN request for comment about the LAPD investigation.

Elder had previously denied the allegations in a statement issued through his campaign.

“I have never brandished a gun at anyone,” he wrote in the statement. “I grew up in South Central; I know exactly how destructive this type of behavior is. It’s not me, and everyone who knows me knows it’s not me.”

Elder added the allegations are “salacious” and that he would not be distracted from his bid to oust Gov. Gavin Newsom in the Democrat’s upcoming recall election.

In her statement to police, Datig wrote, “By reporting the facts to an official agency, media outlets have an opportunity to be presented with the facts.”

Datig also said in her statement to police that she reached out to friends for help after the alleged incidents, who she said assisted and guided her. Speaking to CNN by phone Thursday, Datig said she did not want to identify those individuals for privacy reasons and to avoid interfering with the police investigation.

Datig, a registered Republican, runs Front Page Index, a conservative political news portal. She has endorsed former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, a Republican, in the recall contest.

Datig told CNN earlier this month that she is “horrified” by Elder’s candidacy, saying she is “truly concerned that Larry Elder as governor is going to be a catastrophe.”

She added that Elder has “zero qualifications to handle a crisis. California can’t afford to make that mistake.”

When asked if she fears that her decision to speak publicly about Elder would raise questions about her motivations, Datig replied: “If Larry would have been a smart candidate, he would have picked up the phone and called me and said, ‘Will you support me for governor?’ Why wouldn’t he do that?”

When CNN pointed out that it seems that she wouldn’t have supported Elder if he had called her, Datig said, “I don’t know. I don’t know. But I think he showed a sign of great disrespect by not doing that.”

This story has been updated with additional information.

The-CNN-Wire
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