Today, the Federal Election Commission (FEC) decided Norm Coleman (R-MN) could use campaign funds to pay legal fees:

The Federal Election Commission has ruled that former Sen. Norm Coleman can use campaign money to pay for legal bills to address allegations involving a donor.

The agency's ruling Thursday said the Minnesota Republican can use the money for legal bills linked to two lawsuits. They allege that a former Coleman donor funneled at least $75,000 to an insurance company that employed Coleman's wife.

CREW is disappointed, but not surprised, that the FEC allowed Coleman to use campaign funds to pay legal fees in two corporate shareholder lawsuits in which he is not even a party. We are pleased, however, that the Commission put former Senator Coleman on notice – as CREW had recommended -- that today's advisory opinion does not allow him to use recount funds to pay his legal fees in the shareholder lawsuits or the FBI and Senate Ethics Committee investigations. CREW will be closely monitoring former Senator Coleman's upcoming reports to the FEC and if it appears that he has used recount funds to pay his own personal legal expenses, we will file a complaint with the Commission.

Separately, we find it incredible that three FEC commissioners take the view that the Commission does not have the power to address questions regarding the application of the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA) raised by those who submit comments on draft advisory opinions. Why bother to have a public comment period if the FEC will not address legitimate issues raised by the public? The advisory opinion approved today specifically states it is based on former Senator Coleman's request "and publicly available information."

CREW executive director Melanie Sloan said:

To assert the Commission must put on blinders to avoid addressing any FECA issue other than the narrowly-tailored one raised by the requestor is irresponsible. It turns the advisory opinion process into a game whereby the requestor can obtain permission to engage in activities - and obtain immunity for doing so - by merely leaving out inconvenient facts.

Via NBC News, we learn Norm Coleman is getting some help to pay some of his mounting legal bills:

First, the National Republican Senatorial Committee has committed $750,000 to help Coleman pay his legal bills. A Republican official insists that this money is to help pay past legal bills -- not future ones that might be incurred if Coleman decides to take his case to the U.S. Supreme Court. It's worth pointing out that this $750,000 isn't chump change.

Coleman has all sorts of legal bills these days.  He wants to use campaign funds to pay for potential litigation costs.  Yesterday, CREW objected to that proposal.

Today, CREW filed a letter with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) opposing former Sen. Norm Coleman’s (R-MN) request to use campaign funds for litigation expenses. Sen. Coleman stated that he may be called as a witness in ongoing litigation in Texas and Delaware.   Our letter to the FEC can be seen here.

CREW executive director Melanie Sloan stated:

Campaign funds should be used for campaign purposes and not for every legal expense a candidate incurs. The FEC has expanded the exceptions to the ban on using campaign funds for personal use so much that they swallow the rule. This is a good time for the Commission to cut back.  At a minimum, the rules prohibit recount funds from being used for anything for recount purposes. As a result, Sen. Coleman cannot be permitted to use his recount funds to prepare for possible testimony in a civil case.

Here's the background and our legal analysis:

Campaign funds may not be used for personal use, but the FEC decides whether to permit the use of campaign funds to pay for legal fees and expenses on a case-by-case basis. Here, Senator Coleman is seeking the FEC’s permission to use campaign funds to pay legal fees and expenses incurred to prepare for an event that may never occur. Neither of the civil suits alleges that former Senator Coleman committed any wrongdoing or was even aware of any wrongdoing allegedly committed by others. Whether Sen. Coleman may be asked to testify in one or both civil proceedings at some undetermined point in the future is merely hypothetical, and commission regulations prohibit the issuance of an advisory opinion to address a hypothetical situation.

Even if the FEC allows Sen. Coleman to use campaign funds to prepare for the possibility that he may have to testify in these civil suits, the Commission should, at the very least, stipulate that the Coleman for Senate ’08 committee may not use any funds derived from the Coleman Minnesota Recount Committee (Recount Committee) to pay these costs.

On December 12, 2008, the Recount Committee transferred $81,375.13 to Coleman for Senate ’08. In the first quarter of 2009, the Recount Committee made an additional ten transfers of funds totaling $244,318.54 to Coleman for Senate ’08, which is more than half of the $469,563.73 Coleman for Senate ’08 had in cash-on-hand on March 31, 2009. Additional transfers may, and most likely have, taken place since Coleman for Senate ’08 closed its books to file its April 2009 Quarterly Report on March 31, 2009. It is possible that funds derived from the Recount Committee make up a substantial majority of the funds now held by Coleman for Senate ’08.

The FEC has held that Recount Committee funds may not be used for anything other than recount activities. Therefore, recount funds can only be used to pay for post-election litigation concerning the casting and counting of ballots during the federal election and cannot be used to pay for any other legal fees. Because the litigation costs Coleman for Senate ’08 seeks to pay are not in connection with the general election campaign that ended on November 4, 2008, the committee cannot use Recount Committee funds for these costs.

Today, Sam Stein at Huffington Post reported that the FBI has been investigating former Minnesota Senator Norm Coleman's ties to his benefactor, Nasser Kazeminy.  Stein talked to one witness who was interviewed by the FBI -- and even had copies of the agents' business cards:

The FBI is investigating allegations that former Senator Norm Coleman had clothing and other items purchased on his behalf by a longtime friend and businessman Nasser Kazeminy, according to a source in Minnesota who was interviewed recently by federal agents.

E.K. Watkins, a spokesman for the Minnesota FBI, would neither confirm nor deny the report. The source provided details of the interview to the Huffington Post, in addition to copies of business cards left by the agents.

The FBI has also been conducting interviews in Texas, according to media reports, in regards to different allegations that Kazeminy tried to steer $75,000 to Coleman through his wife's employer. Up to this point, there have not been reports of any FBI work taking place in Coleman's home state.

The Minnesota source said the FBI questioning focused on whether Kazeminy had purchased clothing on Coleman's behalf, reports of which surfaced in October. At the time, Coleman vehemently denied the allegations. "Nobody but me and my wife buy my suits," he said.

According to The Hill, Minnesota's Norm Coleman has asked the FEC to allow him to use campaign funds to pay for legal fees.  Those fees are associated with one of Coleman's top political benefactors:

Former Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.) has requested permission to use his campaign funds for legal fees relating to a lawsuit filed against a campaign donor, according to documents from the Federal Election Commission (FEC).

Coleman donor Nasser Kazeminy has been accused of ordering $75,000 in payments to a firm that employed Coleman’s wife, Laurie Coleman, in a lawsuit filed in Texas. Coleman is not a defendant in the lawsuit, but he has been forced to respond to certain aspects of the case that involve him. The lawsuit alleges Kazeminy tried to benefit Coleman with the payments.

Coleman’s campaign filed the request for an FEC advisory opinion April 3 — the day after The Hill reported he had failed to follow through on a promise to seek one. Members of Coleman’s campaign had said months before that they would seek FEC permission to use the funds.

The request noted that certain ethics groups have called for an investigation of Coleman, and that he could be dragged into Kazeminy’s case.

CREW did file a complaint with the Senate Select Committee on Ethics against Senator Coleman.  Our complaint asked for an investigation into whether Senator Norm Coleman (R-MN) violated the Senate gifts rule by accepting lodging from Republican operative Jeff Larson.  The pdf copy of the complaint can be found here.

Okay, that title was a bit cumbersome, but it contains some very important information.  Norm Coleman's financial benefactor, Nasser Kazeminy, has been accused of funneling money to the Coleman family through Mrs. Coleman's company.  This story broke last October.  Today's Star-Tribune reports that one of Kazeminy's employees testified that the money was sent to Mrs. Coleman's company at his boss' behest:  

The former finance chief of a Texas company controlled by Nasser Kazeminy, a close friend of former Sen. Norm Coleman, said in a deposition last week that Kazeminy ordered $100,000 in fees be paid to a Minneapolis insurance agency where Coleman's wife was employed.

B.J. Thomas, who was chief financial officer of Deep Marine Technology Inc., said that $75,000 of that sum was paid to Hays Companies even though he saw no evidence of Deep Marine receiving any consulting services from Hays.

Thomas' deposition, taken under oath on March 19 and obtained by the Star Tribune, is the first corroboration from an official at Deep Marine of allegations made by company founder Paul McKim in a lawsuit filed last year against the company.

Yesterday, we reported the news that Senator Norm Coleman and his wife have each retained counsel in the wake of an FBI investigation involving them.  

Today, as if on cue, we learn that Senator Coleman intends to use his campaign funds to pay for his lawyer:

Donors to Minnesota Sen. Norm Coleman's re-election campaign may be surprised to learn that the St. Paul Republican is planning to use their contributions to pay blue-chip criminal defense lawyers to defend him against a reported FBI probe into his dealings with a wealthy businessman.

As the Strib and our Josh Kraushaar report, Coleman and his wife Laurie have retained lawyers Earl Gray and Doug Kelley to deal with allegations that his friend and political patron Nasser Kazeminy funneled $80,000 to the senator's wife through a Kazeminy-controlled Texas oil services company. The Colemans have denied the charges -- and accused rival Al Franken of stoking the controversy.

“We intend to have any legal fees related to what we believe to be a politically inspired legal action to be covered by the Senator’s campaign," said Coleman spokesman Luke Friedrich.

The tactic may be risky: The Federal Election Commission allows elected officials to use their war chests to pay legal bills only if the action/investigations arise as a result of their tenure in office or campaigns.

The Star-Tribune is reporting that the Coleman family has lawyered up:

Four of Minnesota's biggest legal guns have cast their shadows over two lawsuits that have drawn the attention of the FBI.

They have been retained by U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman; his wife, Laurie; Jim Hays, her insurance company employer; and Nasser Kazeminy, a multi-millionaire friend of the Colemans who is accused in the lawsuits of sending them money in 2007 through Hays' company. Coleman's Senate ethics form reports no such payment.

Three of the lawyers are former assistant U.S. attorneys who have prosecuted white-collar criminal cases. The fourth attorney has a reputation among prosecutors, defense colleagues and judges for thoroughness and aggressiveness wrapped in a civil demeanor.

Norm Coleman has hired Doug Kelley, Laurie Coleman is represented by Earl Gray, Hays is aligned with Doug Peterson and Kazeminy has secured the services of Joe Friedberg.

In our 2008 report on the most corrupt members of Congress, CREW designated Senator Norm Coleman (R-MN) as one to watch. 

Based on a report in today's Minneapolis Star-Tribune, the FBI is watching an ally of Coleman, Nasser Kazeminy, who allegedly tried to steer money to Coleman's wife:

The FBI is investigating allegations in two lawsuits accusing a friend and political supporter of Sen. Norm Coleman of attempting to funnel $75,000 to Coleman from the coffers of a Texas company that the friend controls.

Sources familiar with the probe said FBI agents in Texas have begun gathering information and contacting people associated with Houston-based Deep Marine Technology Inc., an underwater services company controlled by Nasser Kazeminy, a wealthy businessman whose flagship investment company is based in Bloomington.

Paul McKim, the founder and former CEO of Deep Marine, has alleged in a lawsuit against Kazeminy that Kazeminy steered $75,000 in payments last year to Hays Companies Inc. of Minneapolis, a large insurance agency that employs Coleman's wife, Laurie Coleman.

Last month, U.S. Senator Norm Coleman (R-MN) filed a defamation lawsuit against his opponent, Al Franken.   CREW's report, The 20 Most Corrupt Members of Congress (and 4 to watch), was a factor in that lawsuit.  Coleman was one of the "4 to watch" -- and one of the four Senators featured in the report.  Yesterday, a judge dismissed the lawsuit and our report was also a factor in that decision:

A Minnesota judge threw out a lawsuit Thursday against Al Franken by Republican Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.), who claimed his Democratic opponent had defamed him in ads.

Judge Barbara L. Neilson ruled claims by a watchdog group against Coleman referenced in the Franken ads are “substantially accurate, if not literally true.”

Coleman and Franken remain locked in a tight contest for the incumbent’s Senate seat that is headed for a recount. Final results might not be known until December.

Coleman’s suit centered on a claim in a Franken ad that Coleman is the “fourth most corrupt” Senator, attributed to the nonpartisan watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW). Neilson ruled it did not meet the law's standards for defamation.

“Because the statement made in the Franken advertisements accurately captures the 'gist' or 'sting' of Senator Coleman’s placement in the CREW listing...there is not probable cause to believe that a violation of the statute has occurred," Neilson wrote. She also rejected claims by the Coleman campaign that CREW was not “bipartisan,” contrary to the organization’s claims.