This story starts here at The Philadelphia Inquirer:
The estranged wife of Republican Senate candidate Sean Parnell testified under oath Monday that he choked her until she bit him to escape, that he hit their young children, and that he lashed out at her with obscenities and insults.
In tearful testimony, Laurie Snell told a family court judge that her husband once called her a “whore” and a “piece of s—” while pinning her down. On another occasion, she said, Parnell slapped one child hard enough to leave fingerprint-shaped welts through the back of the child’s T-shirt. And she said he once got so angry he punched a closet door with such force it swung into a child’s face and left a bruise. She said Parnell told his child: “That was your fault.”
She also testified that after a Thanksgiving trip in 2008, he briefly forced her out of their vehicle alongside a highway after raging at her, telling her to “go get an abortion.”
From Parnell's campaign website:
I am pro-life, and will always vote to protect the unborn.
Also, Thanksgiving 2008 was 13 years ago. According to The Week:
Monday was the first of three days of custody hearings in family court. Snell is seeking primary custody of their three children, ages 8 to 12.
Um.
For the record, there's this from The Inky:
In a statement released by his campaign, Parnell, a decorated Army veteran who served in Afghanistan and was endorsed this summer by former President Donald Trump, vigorously disputed his wife’s claims, calling a number of them “lies” and said he was looking forward to rebutting them when he presents his case next week.
”Let me emphatically state: I have never raised a hand in anger towards my wife or any of our three children,” the statement said. “What happened today in court was not justice, nor did it have any basis in fact or truth.“
The story's gotten a lot of traction making it all the way out to:
If Laurie Snell's story is true (I'm not doubting it - she did testify under oath, y'know - I'm just setting up an if-then argument) then Sean Parnell has no right to be within 100 yards of her or their children.
But that part's for the court to decide.
If Ms Snell's story is true, then she's a victim of domestic abuse.
And Sean Parnell is unfit to hold office.