“Sean Parnell’s military thriller ‘Man of War’ contains graphic scenes of violence against female characters, raising additional questions about his attitude toward women in the wake of court testimony that he physically and verbally abused his estranged wife. Parnell, who has emerged as the frontrunner in the Pennsylvania GOP Senate primary, portrays multiple scenes of men assaulting women in the 2018 novel, the first of four in a fiction series written by the Army combat veteran. Those scenes are in a new light following his wife Laurie Snell’s testimony under oath Monday that her husband strangled her and assaulted their children.”

“Those were among the explosive allegations made in a child custody hearing, an account of which was reported by the Philadelphia Inquirer. ‘He tried to choke me out on a couch and I literally had to bite him,’ Snell said in a Butler, Pa. courtroom, according to the Inquirer. ‘He was strangling me.’ Snell’s tearful testimony included a claim that Parnell pinned her down and called her a ‘whore’ and ‘piece of shit,’ the newspaper reported. In a statement afterward, Parnell said Snell’s testimony was false, and that ‘the truth will prevail’ once he can make his case in court next week. ‘In court the mother of my children made a number of false allegations against me,’ Parnell said. ‘Those allegations are lies. There is no truth to them, not one. They are complete fabrications; not distortions or misrepresentations – just flat-out lies'” – Politico.