Lawsuit Targets Major Colem
On Wednesday, Republican Sen. Norm Coleman briefly canceled all his west-central Minnesota campaign stops -- and then quickly resumed them -- after being asked about a lawsuit filed in Texas that mentioned him and his wife.
After a campaign stop in St. Cloud, Minneapolis Star Tribune reporters Paul McEnroe and Tony Kennedy tried to ask Coleman a question about the lawsuit, to no avail. Their chase was captured on tape.
At issue is whether Coleman's wife received $75,000 from one of Coleman's major campaign donors, Nasser Kazeminy, who also reportedly paid for Coleman's suits at Neiman Marcus.
The lawsuit was filed on Monday in a Texas district court against Kazeminy by Paul McKim, the CEO of Deep Marine Technologies (DMT), an energy exploration company in Houston in which Kazeminy is a controlling shareholder. The lawsuit, obtained by The Nation, states:
In March 2007, Kazeminy began ordering the payment of corporate funds to companies and individuals who tendered no goods or services to DMT for the states purpose of trying to financially assist United States Senator Norm Coleman of Minnesota. In March 2007, Kazeminy telephoned B.J. Thomas, then DMT's Chief Financial Officer. In that conversation, Kazeminy told Mr. Thomas that "US Senators don't make [expletive deleted]" and that he was going to find a way to get money to Coleman and wanted to utilize DMT in the process...Kazeminy told Mr. McKim that he [Kazeminy] would make sure there was paperwork to make it appear as though the payments were made in connection with the legitimate transations, explaining further that Senator Coleman's wife, Laurie, worked for the Hays Companies, an insurance broker in Minneapolis, and that the payments could be made to Hays for insurance. When Mr. McKim made further objections, Kazeminy repeatedly threatened to fire Mr. McKim, telling him "this is my company" and that he and Thomas had better follow his orders in paying Hays. Subsequently, Kazeminy caused Hays to produce a document entitled "Disclosure of Service Fees" which purported to legitimize the basis of the payments to be made to Hays by DMT.
According to the lawsuit, three $25,000 payments were made from DMT to Hays from May until September, 2007. A fourth invoice was canceled by McKim. The lawsuit alleges that:
Kazeminy informed McKim and Thomas that Hays would funnel the money from DMT to Senator Coleman through the payment of compensation, to his wife, Laurie, and that there was nothing to worry about. Laurie Coleman never provided any type of services or products to DMT. Furthermore, at no time has Hays been licensed to broker insurance in the State of Texas.
It's too early to know, but news of the lawsuit could be a potential bombshell five days before Election Day. The Coleman campaign told another reporter that the suit has been withdrawn, though the Harris County courthouse says it's still active.
I've asked both the Coleman and Franken campaigns for comment. Will update when/if they do.
UPDATE: Earlier today Coleman sued Franken for defamation in his TV ads. Huffington Post says its "the fourth time that the Minnesota Republican has filed a suit late in the course of his runs for office." This lawsuit certainly seems designed to distract from the one above.
UPDATE II: Plaintiff's lawyer tells HuffPo the suit has been withdrawn. Doesn't say why. Another official says charges within are still true. Reports Sam Stein: "A person familiar with the case, however, emphasized that while the complaint may have been withdrawn, the charges contained within it were still valid."
Furthermore, DC lawyer Brent Kappel notes parallels between Alaska Senator Ted Stevens' conviction for failing to list gifts on his Senate disclosure forms and the allegations against Coleman.
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