December 15, 2008
The battle for Norm Coleman’s Senate seat, representing Minnesota, continues to drag on toward the new year. Democratic candidate Al Franken inched closer to victory when the state Canvassing Board ruled that more than 1,600 absentee ballots were improperly rejected by local officials. As Curt Brown reported in the December 14 Minneapolis Star Tribune:
The recount has revealed numerous missteps, some involving enough ballots to tip the balance.
There are a couple of similarities between the Senatorial election in Minnesota and the Senatorial election in Alaska. When Alaska Senator Ted Stevens lost his bid for re-election in the 2008 Senate race, it was the count of absentee and questioned ballots that determined the outcome of that event, as reported in the November 20 Seattle Times. More importantly, the crucial factor motivating voters in the Alaska election was also discussed in that article:
A week before the election, a jury convicted Stevens of seven felonies for lying on his financial-disclosure forms about more than $250,000 in gifts, including renovations of his Girdwood, Alaska, home.
Prior to the resolution of that race, there was a good deal of discussion concerning the likelihood that the Senate would not tolerate the membership of a convicted felon in their exclusive organization.
Meanwhile, Senator Norm Coleman is facing questions from reporters over his own home improvement scandal. Although he is not presently facing criminal charges for any wrongdoing in this matter, the FBI has begun an investigation into the money trail left by $75,000 in campaign contributions. On Thursday, December 11, Fox 9 of St. Paul provided this:
The FBI is now reportedly investigating the allegations that Nasser Kazeminy tried to funnel $75,000 in campaign contributions through the Senator’s wife.
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Norm Coleman’s home in St. Paul’s Crocus Hill neighborhood is not lavish — but it’s a lot nicer than it used to be, thanks in part to contractor Jim Taylors, who helped remodel the home two years ago.
“Put in a second floor master bedroom/bathroom, the bedroom was there, we just added a bathroom and closet and a kitchen remodel, actually turned into half the house remodel by the time we painted and refinished floors and did some landscape work,” says Taylors.
The remodeled kitchen was the backdrop for some of the Senator’s campaign commercials. FOX 9 learned the woman in charge of the project was Shari Wilsey, an interior designer. Wilsey, along with her husband Roger, are longtime friends of the Coleman’s and financial contributors to the Senator’s campaigns.
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Two lawsuits allege that in spring of 2007, Edina businessman Nasser Kazeminy began a series of $25,000 payments to Coleman from Deep Marine Technology, a company he controlled in Texas, to Hays Companies, the Minnesota Insurance company where Laurie Coleman works.
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While Coleman didn’t agree to sit down for a interview, his campaign did agree to share billing records of the remodeling project. Original projections in 2006 estimated a cost of $328,000, but four months later, the construction cost was estimated at $414,000, over-budget by $86,000.
During that time is when, the lawsuit alleges, Kazeminy was trying to get money to Coleman.
According to the lawsuits, in March of 2007, Kazeminy said that “U.S. Senators don’t make s—” and he was going to try to find a way to get money to Coleman.
“On the one level it could just be a coincidence, on the other level this could be one of the reasons he’s getting that money from elsewhere, to try to make up for his, to be able to pay off a loan, pay off a line of credit,” says Schultz.
Records provided by the campaign show that Coleman paid Wilsey in full for the renovation — $414,000. In part, by refinancing his home in March 2007, for $775,000.
The Senator acknowledges, that like a lot of people in America, he now owes more on his home than it’s actually worth.
What we know is this: the Senator had costly and over-budget renovations to his home at the same time a contributor was allegedly trying to funnel him money. But he’s still criticized for walking away from reporters, while the questions aren’t going away.
It’s nice to know that we can count on a Fox news outlet for a good scandal, and if we’re lucky, it might even involve a Republican. Although Coleman was not named as a defendant in either lawsuit, the FBI investigation into the campaign contributions could eventually give Coleman some more serious headaches. At this point, it seems as though Coleman could document that he paid for the remodeling project by refinancing his home. However, did the refinancing cover the entire $414,000 cost? Even if Coleman is re-elected, could we eventually get to the point where the Senate, itself, has to consider giving him the boot? Stay tuned.
The Al Franken Month
January 26, 2009
At the end of 1979, Al Franken appeared on the “Weekend Update News” during Saturday Night Live to announce that the 1980s would be “The Al Franken Decade”. For those of us old enough to remember, it’s scary to realize that “The Al Franken Decade” ended almost twenty years ago. In 1999, Franken released a book entitled: Why Not Me? concerning his fictitious run for the Presidency in 2000. The cover of the book featured a photograph of Franken being sworn in as President. Although many news publications restrict their discussions of Franken’s background to the subject of his years with Saturday Night Live, they overlook the elements on his resume qualifying him to serve as a United States Senator. For one thing, he graduated cum laude from Harvard in 1973. In 1996, he wrote a book entitled: Rush Limbaugh Is a Big Fat Idiot and Other Observations, wherein he dared to challenge the most outspoken pundit of conservative talk radio. The book found its way to the number one spot on the New York Times best seller list. He subsequently took on the Fox News organization with his book: Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right. The book sported a picture of Bill O’Reilly on the cover and included a chapter criticizing O’Reilly’s on-air statements. From 2004 through 2007, Franken hosted his own talk show on Air America Radio. His program was primarily focused on political issues.
Franken’s Minnesota campaign against Norm Coleman for the United States Senate has found its way into the court system, with the trial scheduled to begin today. By the time votes had been counted (on November 18) Coleman was ahead by only 215 votes. Because the candidates were separated by less than 0.5 percent of the vote, Minnesota law required an automatic recount. On January 5, 2009, the Minnesota State Canvassing Board certified the recounted vote totals, with Franken leading by 225 votes. The next day, Coleman filed suit, contesting the recount result. The trial of this case is taking place before a three-judge panel of “trial-level” judges. As you can imagine, there will likely be an appeal from whatever result is reached in that case. In the mean time, Franken has filed a motion before the Minnesota Supreme Court to compel Secretary of State Mark Ritchie and Governor Tim Pawlenty to sign the election certificate, designating Franken as the winner. That hearing is set for February 5.
A good source for understanding the court battle over this Senate seat is MinnPost.com. There, you will find Jay Weiner’s guide to the trial as a handy reference. Mr. Weiner has spelled out the issues raised by Coleman’s suit in the following manner:
Jay Weiner’s article also included his take on the ultimate outcome of this suit:
Meanwhile, Michael O’Brien of The Hill website, has disclosed that Coleman has taken a job with the Republican Jewish Coalition while this battle continues:
With the Democratic Party poised to capture yet another Senate seat, we can expect a lot of excitement to surround this trial. The Al Franken Decade may be long gone but, like it or not, the current decade has brought us The Al Franken Month. Beyond that, if this trial ends up the way most commentators expect, the United States Senate will experience at least one Al Franken Term. Six years may not be another decade … but it should be fun.