FBI Investigating Coleman, Paper Reports

The Twin Cities Pioneer Press reports that a probe has been launched into Minnesota Sen. Norm Coleman's ties to businessman Nasser Kazeminy:

Federal investigators are looking into allegations that a longtime friend and benefactor tried to steer money to U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman, the Pioneer Press has learned.

Agents with the FBI have talked to or made efforts to talk to people in Texas familiar with the allegations, according to a source familiar with the situation.

Houston is where the first of two lawsuits was filed alleging Nasser Kazeminy, a Bloomington financier, tried to steer $100,000 to Coleman via his wife's Minneapolis employer. The second suit, filed in Delaware, alleges Kazeminy initially tried to get money directly to the senator.

Both Coleman and Kazeminy have denied any wrongdoing, and Coleman last month said he welcomes an investigation.

Neither Coleman nor his office has been contacted by the FBI, spokesman LeRoy Coleman said Tuesday morning.

"We have not been contacted by any law enforcement or investigative authority on this matter," he said.

On Tuesday evening, Coleman's campaign released the following statement: "We are not aware of any investigation that is under way, nor have we been contacted by any agency with respect to this matter. As we have said repeatedly, we welcome any investigation of these lawsuits by the appropriate authorities to get to the bottom of these baseless, sleazy and politically inspired allegations."

The campaign provided no evidence for the claim that the allegations are "politically inspired."

A lawsuit alleges that Kazeminy tried to funnel money directly to Sen. Coleman. Sam Stein reported recently for the Huffington Post that Coleman could face an ethics investigation for his ties to Kazeminy if he is reelected to the Senate. A Minnesota good government group has called for am FBI probe.

Comments

[LadyVlad]

2008 was the year of Democratic Reps. William "Cold Cash" Jefferson, Charlie "Sweetheart Deals" Rangel, and former Detroit Mayor Kwame "Text Me" Kilpatrick. It was the year Democratic Massachusetts State Senator Dianne Wilkerson got caught stuffing bribes from an FBI informant down her shirt. It was the year 12 Democratic leaders and staffers in Pennsylvania's state Capitol were stung in a massive c orruption s candal involving cash, s ex and a buse of public office. And it was the year of multimillion-dollar e mbezzlement s candals at Democratic satellite offices of ACORN and the SEIU.

[JamesR.]

Impressive. You have nailed all the RNC talking points. Now you can go take a nap.

[kay]

It's weirdly partisan, her recitation. She went all the way down to the Statehouse level without noticing a single Republican!

She's vigilant.

[dentuso]

Oh... no doubt historians will look back at this era and note the wild incompetence and disho nesty exhibited by... Dems?

Um. No.

There's a legacy that will be recalled, and it ain't gonna be pretty for Republicans. The only comforting thing is the fact that thirty years from now, kids will be learning what the Republican Party was.

[Chillinout]

You forgot:

It was the year that Americans woke up and removed the blight from their country, thereby freeing up the world to better live up to it's potential.

[NoMercy]

I remember the year somewhat differently.

It was the year OBAMA WON.

[Chillinout]

You forgot:

It was the year that Americans woke up and finally removed the blight from their country, thereby freeing up the rest of the world to better live up to their potential.

[Ammobob]

There has been only small movements on the RECOUNT FRONT. Both teams have withdrawn challenges on about 1100 ballots each, but papers up in MN feel NORM has a better chance of gaining more votes to pad his miniscule lead from challenged ballots. What will AL's next move be? The courts? Or an appeal to Harry in the Senate?

[Ramirez]

The Harry Reid Option is his only play.

[kay]

Does it matter? Coleman is the milquetoast fake moderate who does nothing without checking the political winds, right? Due to his precarious blue state status?

He's not even a real New Englandy-type old school liberal Republican. He can have the seat, and continue to keep his head down.

His whole reason for being is keeping the seat warm. For what purpose, no one knows. He needs a job?

[rmetz74]

I'm sorry, I can't get past the creative grammar of your first sentence.

[cariintexas]

No, a call to Katherine Harris in FL. Ask her why she stopped the recount. No, that would be Normy's call.

[HumeSkeptic]

HP should have a separate thread for tr0lls, with a Psychologist offering advice on how to cope with their loss on November 4.

It appears that many are still in denial, and others are reacting irrationally, indicating possible permanent damage to their already deficient brains.
.

[bronzy]

"snickers"

[JamesR.]

lol

[RobertaInCT]

I'm afraid of a major meltdown when Obama is finally sworn in........­..any advice?

[Chillinout]

Make sure you are in a "blue state" on the 20th of January. I'm afraid some of those really red states might implode.

[HumeSkeptic]

Red wine goes well while watching meltdowns. I recommend a good Clifornia Merlot. I have ordered a case.

[dentuso]

Agreed.

Just keep one open thread entitled "Obama's a Fookin' Mus lim!", and let them stay busy until 2012.

[bronzy]

lol omg !

[HumeSkeptic]

What a joy it is going to be, watching the tr0lls for 8 years, and listening to Hannity and Limbaugh.

[JamesR.]

LMAO Good one.

[TLV]

Buy them their own blog. That way, they'll be far away from here.

[Progress08]

A thread titled "What do you hate most about Obama, brown people, athiests and the gays most". They'll spend endless days typing away until eventually they lose their jobs and eventually come to rely on the gov't to be fed and housed at which point a catharsis will sweep over the land where these people realize their lives were wasted.

[RJII]

the Obama era, cleaning up corruption on all sides.

[midpointpolitico]

Is corruption the standard way this country handles its affairs? We have seen so much of it in the last several years but never more than the last few days. Even the pundits, who see it all, can't hide their shock. We will never regain our place in the world as a beacon of hope as long as we allow corruption to happen.

[kay]

I don't know how you come up with "never more but in the last few days". There's been an indictment, investigation or conviction around every month for the last 2 years.

Just yesterday there was a failed appeal, two Congressional investigations, one broadened and one with an initial report, and an arrest.

[bubbuh]

No, it just makes the top 5
1. Competently.
2. Complacently.
3. Sloppily
4. Stupidly.
5. Corruptly

[thecanadian]

Next up - finally a Star is born. The FBI rises to do it's job. Obama will have to add hundreds of new FBI Agents and hundreds of Attorneys to start rooting out the sleaze of 8 years of Bushie and all!
Then - Next up will be AIG - Citibank and Obama will have to add an army of Forensic Accountants.

[MNmommy]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VySnpLoaUrI

[dentuso]

I've seen this a couple of times. His PR guy did him NO favors.

[MissTraci]

omigod

[zkazan]

What's the problem? He couldn't have been more forthright! And to reiterate, OMG!

[RJII]

bwaaahaaahaaaa. i almost felt sorry for the dupe representative.

[KO4Pres]

BRS....Bro­ken Record Syndrome

[LCLiberal]

A little late on this, don't you think?

http://www.political-buzz.com/

[peterkatona]

Fascinating, isn't it, that while Illinois Governor Blagojevich is arrested in, allegedly, one of the most brazen bribery cases in recent memory - the selling of a Senate seat - splashed on the homepage of this news organization, of which I am a fan, is an investigation of a Republican locked in a fierce and paper-thin race against a celebrity candidate which puts the Democrats on the verge of a filibuster-proof majority. The story here is that allegations are being "looked into." Nothing has been substantiated, nor proved against Senator Coleman. Still, that must be today's top story, probably because he has a capital "R" next to his name. Meanwhile, the Illinois governor could appoint a Senator despite his arrest, tainting that appointment, as the legislature in Springfield races to change the law to prevent him from having that option. What a story! Wait- isn't there some Larry Craig news that could pre-empt it?

[HappyIdiot2008]

Don't worry. There's plenty of blame to go around.

[kay]

No one in their right mind is going to accept the Governor's appointment to the Senate.

I mean, come on. They're not. It's just stupid. Everyone read the charges and now there's nothing to talk about unless we're talking about this trumped up "emergency" in the Illinois Statehouse. Yeah, I bet they're running around CRAZY. Uh, huh.

They're going to posture and pontificate for a while, and end up with a procedure to disallow the governor from appointing the Senator. It's like watching paint dry.

[firesideone]

Yep, funny how all that glass is shuttered when stones are thrown. A lesson the RNC still hasn't learned, even after two election beatings.

[peterkatona]

Yes, firesideone, it IS funny. In fact, it's hilarious. All things being equal, what affects people more: a sex-sting in an airport bathroom, or a U.S. Senator being named to his seat because he was the highest bidder to your Governor?

[JamesR.]

That story never gets old:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8C3tR9Yl4g

sip

[HumeSkeptic]

Do you want cheese with that whine?

[doober]

It seems to me that rather than selling Democracy to the Arabs they have sold their corrupt style of government to us..

[iver]

My, my! With the FBI and Justice being so busy with chasing down Democratic governors from Alabama, New York, and now Illinois, how will they find time to do a comprehensive investigation and prosecution of a lowly, little senator from Minnesota? So many wiretaps, so little time, before this Justice department gets overhauled. Coleman probably will just get a once over. Nothing to see here; move along.
Corruption is bad. It is bad EVERYWHERE it occurs. So with this late blossoming zeal on the part of Justice and the FBI and with their adroit use of wiretaps, we can probably look forward to arrests of Harriet Myers, Alberto Gonzales, Dick Cheney, Karl Rove, Donald Rumsfeld, in addition to arrests for conspiracy­/corruptio­n involving no bid, no results contracts to Halliburton and Blackwater and all the others. Will we be able to look forward to justice for ALL in America in the closing days of the Bush administration, even in Minnesota and Washington?

[LaurieR]

Welcome to FantasyLand. Wouldn't it be nice, though? *sigh*

[1man1voicenovote]

Truth.
Justice.
It's too easy!

[williamg]

Swearing in: Barack Hussein Obama


President-elect Obama says he plans to use all three of his names when he takes the oath of office in January, giving voice to a name that was used heard during the campaign except by critics.

In his first post-election newspaper interview, with reporters from the Chicago Tribune and Los Angeles Times, Obama was asked: "Do you anticipate being sworn in as Barack Obama or Barack Hussein Obama?"

He replied: "I think the tradition is that they use all three names, and I will follow the tradition, not trying to make a statement one way or the other. I'll do what everybody else does."

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1208/16406.html

[MissTraci]

I wish I had the stomach for Politico these days. But I do like Obama's remarks.

[scandals-n-skeletons]

BTW, bambam did flag my post (tongue in cheek) yesterday and it was removed.
Unbelievable. These tr0lls must have their funny bones removed at birth

[Bienville]

The idea of using a "tradition" to decide is a little flawed.

Reagan and Carter kept it to first and last names only, and Truman's middle inital, "S" doesn't stand for anything, he had no middle name.

[diamondgirl9]

O will be the 44th Prez-if only 3 presidents-1 with no middle name,didn't use their middle name-they would be the exceptions-not the rule.

[Brillig]

He has no reason not to use his name. His name is an honorable one and the name of kings.

Strange noone asked Blagovitch where his Russian, communist sounding name came from before they voted him in as Governor.

Or has anyone asked any of the various people with names ending in SKI, if they are SERBS bent on genocide.

Did anyone have a problem with a GERMAN name Schwarzenegger being voted in?

So why the problem with the mans name. It is you who should be ashamed of yourselves.

[Questinia]

I've literally been waiting two years for this.

[dentuso]

Oh how much I'd pay to see a slideshow of the country's igno rant in reaction to having them hear "I, Barack Hussein Obama.....­"

[JCrewCommando]

"The Sheriff is near..."

[valerielee]

Your point please. It's his name we knew that when we voted for him. His parents named him, like so many of us. They didn't know that Bin Laden would surface only trolls are privileged to that
information and you all chose not to share it.

[JamesR.]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzjGdv_OzZ8

Sums it up.

[paixa3]

I would much rather they focus on finding the missing ballots. Most of the world already knows that Coleman is a slimeball.

[Freedomscap]

Is there going to be a new investigation/probe of a politician everyday now. Is this the change Obama was talking about?

[devanate]

Hopefully. Because they're all a bunch of crooks. Especially the republicans. Probe them all!

[plswkeupamerica]

I hope so.

[katlade]

Well it would be a change for investigations to go forward if these political figures have been running rampant for these past years. This corruption didn't start when Obama was elected. Let's start cleaning house now.

[bronzy]

If it means that it gonna clean up capital hill, then I am all for it, they are nothing but dead weight on this country, we will never move forward with these yokels(corrupt people) around our necks.

[Joeblue]

What about Bush?

[BoboPalinski]

Mark Kirk - Republican Senator from Illinois replacing Barack Obama after special election - its the talk in Chicago!

[diamondgirl9]

If this Repub Senbator is replacing O-why have a special election?