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Sen. Norm Coleman refuses to acknowledge whether or not campaign donor Nasser Kazeminy paid for very expensive suits for Coleman at Neiman Marcus in Minneapolis. Ken Silverstein, the ace investigative reporter at Harper’s magazine, started the fuss a couple of days ago when he reported that two independent sources told him that Kazeminy had bought clothes for Coleman.
At a press conference Wednesday, campaign spokesman Cullen Sheehan refused to answer questions from reporters, and instead recited the line, “The senator has reported every gift he’s ever received,” 12 times in three minutes.
Transcript below the jump.
REPORTER: On a different subject, is there a reason that the senator won’t say whether or not someone else bought some suits for him?
CULLEN SHEEHAN: Rachel, the senator has reported every gift he has ever received.
REPORTER: That wasn’t my question, Cullen.
CULLEN SHEEHAN: The senator has reported every gift he has ever received. We are not going to respond to unnamed sources on a blog.
REPORTER: So Sen. Coleman’s friend has not bought these suits for him? Is that correct?
CULLEN SHEEHAN: The senator has reported every gift he has ever received.
REPORTER: Why can’t you say that? Why won’t you give us an answer yes or no on that?
CULLEN SHEEHAN: He has reported every gift he has ever received.
REPORTER: We haven’t asked whether or not he has reported every gift he has ever received and I will take your word that he has reported every gift he has received. Has he ever received a gift of suits?
CULLEN SHEEHAN: He has reported every gift he has ever received.
REPORTER: If the answer is no, why don’t you say no?
CULLEN SHEEHAN: He has reported every gift he has ever received, Rachel.
REPORTER: What about Laurie, Mrs. Coleman’s, job at Hays Companies? Do you know what she did there?
CULLEN SHEEHAN: Again, they have disclosed everything they need to disclose on the Senate ethics forms.
REPORTER: So the senator will only go according to the Senate ethics laws or rules rather than answer questions?
CULLEN SHEEHAN: He does everything he is required to do, Rachel.
REPORTER: But that’s not my question, Cullen.
CULLEN SHEEHAN: That’s my response.
REPORTER: Sen. Coleman has talked a lot about campaign finance and transparency. He’ll repeat that — transparency, transparency -– that’s what you need to have. If there are questions about whether he was a recipient of some very expensive suits and whether those they were gifted to him in an appropriate way -– why not just clear it all up because it is very unclear to us?
CULLEN SHEEHAN: He does that every year as a United States senator on the ethics disclosure forms.
REPORTER: And will we find information about clothing on those forms?
CULLEN SHEEHAN: If it exceeds a gift limit, yes.
REPORTER: So is it possible that he received these suits and they were below the gift limit?
CULLEN SHEEHAN: The senator has reported every gift he has ever received.
REPORTER: It’s a little puzzling, Cullen, why you won’t say whether or not he received these gifts and I understand that you don’t want to have respond to everything on blogs, but you’re getting questions from reporters and I don’t see why you’re not answering that. Can you explain that a little to me?
CULLEN SHEEHAN: Rachel, we are not going to respond to unnamed sources on blogs. That’s all we would do every day from now until the election is over. The senator has disclosed everything he is required to disclose and reported everything he is required to report.
REPORTER: But Cullen if the senator did nothing wrong here and that’s what you’re saying, you could just tell us that and the issue would go away.
CULLEN SHEEHAN: The senator has reported every gift he has ever received.
REPORTER: Did the senator do anything wrong here?
CULLEN SHEEHAN: The senator has done nothing wrong and has reported every gift he has ever received.
REPORTER: And you don’t know what Mrs. Coleman did for Hays Companies?
CULLEN SHEEHAN: And again, whatever has been required to be disclosed about her income and what she does has been disclosed.
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5 Comments »
Comment posted October 8, 2008 @ 3:19 pm
Why does Senator Coleman’s press secretary refuse to answer these questions, especially whether Senator Coleman received suits from a contributor and what Lori Coleman did for the May Company?
If the answer is no, why doesn’t he just say no?
Dann Dobson
Saint Paul
Comment posted October 9, 2008 @ 10:06 am
I think Cullen did a very good job of answering the question. The reporter is obviously trying to get Cullen to mess up and say the wrong thing by asking him that many times. THis to me is a very good example of PR and shows that Cullen Sheehan is an excellent campaign manager!!
Comment posted October 9, 2008 @ 9:06 pm
CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS
The Kazeminy family (Nasser, Nader, Yvonne, Jibil, Feri and Assad) have been generous to Senator Coleman and his PAC, Northstar Leadership. A search of OpenSecrets.org shows the Kazeminy’s contributing $30,000 to Northstar Leadership PAC and $5,800 to Senator Coleman during the 2008 election cycle.
A review of contributions to Coleman’s Northstar Leadership PAC reveals that John and Sidney Goodman coordinated payment amounts and dates with the Kazeminy family. The Goodman’s have contributed $20,000 to Coleman’s Northstar Leadership PAC and an additional $4,000 to Senator Coleman.
A comparison of the Goodman’s contributions with Kazeminy’s contributions during the 2008 election cycle also shows a coordination of contributions with the Kazeminy family to Rep. Dan Burton (R-IN 05) and Burton’s Hoosier PAC, strongly suggesting more than mere coincidence. And it turns out there is a financial tie between Nasser Kazeminy and John Goodman. They jointly invested in a company called United Energy Corp.
GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS
Nasser Kazeminy’s campaign contribution disclosure forms indicate NJK Holding as his employer. A review of USASpending.gov reveals government payments to NJK Holding totaling $328,082 beginning in 2003 when Coleman took office.
Kazeminy’s joint investment with Goodman in United Energy Corp has also benefited from government contracts. A review of USASpending.gov reveals government payments to United Energy Corp totaling $465,103 since Coleman took office in 2003. United Energy had previously received $222,766 between 2000-2002.
John Goodman’s campaign contribution disclosure forms indicate Sage Co. and The Goodman Group as his employers. A review of USASpending.gov reveals government payments to Sage Co totaling $346,309 since Coleman took office in 2003. Sage also received government payments of $174,000 between from 2000-2002.
That totals $1,139,494 in government contracts between 2003-2008.
THOUGHTS
The Harper’s post shows murky financial dealings are the norm for Norm. It highlights messy dealings on the pure political side of the equation. But the horrendous press conference by Coleman’s campaign manager suggested something deeper. As it turns out, Kazeminy isn’t just a political benefactor to Coleman, but also a beneficiary of the federal government.
Kazeminy and his his partner Goodman have strong – and direct – financial incentive to keep a friend happy. At a minimum, Coleman shows a stunning lack of propriety in his dealings with Kazeminy.
We deserve to know if there was any quid pro quo for these gifts. What were the circumstances behind the awarding of these contracts? What role did Coleman play, if any, in their awards?
Sen. Coleman, it is time for you to stand up and answer to the people of Minnesota.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/10/9/0264/01881/795/624670
Pingback posted May 13, 2009 @ 5:52 pm
[...] had been bought on the then-Senator’s behalf. A the time, Coleman’s chief of staff would only rebut the charge by saying that he “has reported every gift he has ever [...]
Pingback posted May 13, 2009 @ 5:52 pm
[...] had been bought on the then-Senator’s behalf. A the time, Coleman’s chief of staff would only rebut the charge by saying that he “has reported every gift he has ever [...]
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