Political consultant, former GOP spokesman to stand trial on domestic assault charges

March 05--A political consultant and former Minnesota GOP spokesman is scheduled to stand trial Tuesday on accusations that he assaulted his then-girlfriend and tried to stop her from calling 911 during a dispute in 2017.

Jonathan Aanestad, 65, was charged in Hennepin County District Court by an Orono city attorney for two misdemeanor counts of domestic assault and one count each of misdemeanor disorderly conduct and gross misdemeanor interfering with a 911 call.

Aanestad most recently served as a spokesman for Jim Newberger in his unsuccessful race against U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar last year. According to Aanestad’s LinkedIn and social media profiles, he also served as spokesman for the Republican Party of Minnesota from 2008 to 2010, was on former U.S. Rep. Erik Paulsen’s steering committee from 2008 to 2014 and works as a political consultant.

He also served as a member of an advisory committee for Minnesota Expo 2023, which tried to lure the World’s Fair to Minnesota, and has a history of civil disputes with neighbors.

Aanestad could not be reached for comment Monday.

According to the criminal complaint: On Sept. 3, 2017 Orono police were called to the 3100 block of North Shore Drive for a domestic assault. An officer who arrived at the scene about 11 p.m. spoke with a woman who said she had been dating Aanestad for about a year. She told police that they had been in a physical fight in the garage that night, and that he chased her around the garage when she tried to leave.

The woman said she was in her car trying to call 911 when he allegedly intervened and kicked the vehicle.

“…Mr. Aanestad grabbed her car keys and would not let her leave,” the charges said. “…Mr. Aanestad came in through the passenger side of her vehicle and grabbed her cellphone from her hand, cutting her on one of her fingers.”

The woman also alleged that he grabbed her by her forearms, causing pain.

An officer at the scene photographed the woman’s bleeding finger, and tried to see if Aanestad was in the home, but received no answer at the door, the complaint said.

Aanestad’s defense is expected to argue that he could not have committed the alleged crimes because he was at Lord Fletcher’s Old Lake Lodge at the time. The lodge is about a mile-and-a-half from the scene of the incident.

“Mr. Aanestad was at Lord Fletcher’s Old Lake Lodge at the time, having ordered food and/or drinks … and paid for his purchase at 11:16 p.m.,” his public defender wrote in a court memorandum. “It is not possible for Mr. Aanestad to travel from the residence to Lord Fletcher’s, order, be served, and pay for his purchase in the elapsed time.”

Aanestad first went to trial on the case on Dec. 17, 2018, but a last-minute maneuver by prosecutor Steven Tallen delayed the proceeding until this month.

The trial is expected to last two days.

Chao Xiong • 612-270-4708

Twitter: @ChaoStrib

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