
A second lawsuit has been filed containing an identical allegation that Sen. Norm Coleman’s long time political patron funneled $75,000 that was intended to benefit the Senator to a Minneapolis insurance firm, the Star Tribune reports. The case was filed Friday in Delaware Chancery Court and attributes the Coleman claim to a “confidential source.”
The lawsuit was brought by minority shareholders of Deep Marine Technology, a Houston-based firm that provides underwater services to oil companies. It alleges that Nasser Kazeminy utilized the firm to funnel $75,000 to the Republican senator through payments to his wife, Laurie Coleman, via the Minneapolis insurance company where she works.
Sen. Coleman has denied the allegation, calling it a “sleazy” political attack, and blaming the controversy on his Democratic opponent. Al Franken’s campaign has denied any connection to the lawsuit.
Paul McKim, the founder of Deep Marine Technology, who filed the initial lawsuit in Texas on Monday, insists that the dispute is not politically motivated. In fact, he claims to have never heard of Coleman prior to the dust-up with Kazeminy. “It’s just weird timing with Senator Coleman and all this,” McKim tells the Pioneer Press. “I know how it must look, but it’s really not political. I feel bad for him and his family. I don’t know the gentleman, and I’m not a political guy. I’m just an old deep-sea diver. And I’m a Republican.”
In a twist, McKim is actually named as a defendant in the second lawsuit.












6 Comments »
Comment posted November 1, 2008 @ 8:49 am
Please correct spelling of Received in headline…
Comment posted November 1, 2008 @ 11:11 am
Paul, you write that “Sen. Coleman has refuted the allegation…” That’s incorrect. The verb “Refute” means to prove that a statement is false. “Rebut” means to provide opposing arguments. The senator certainly made a rebuttal, but he didn’t prove anything.
Comment posted November 1, 2008 @ 12:06 pm
The really great part is that every election Norm Coleman throws in a 11th hour lawsuit on his opponent and then after the election he withdraws it. Every election. Now, he states this is an 11th hour lawsuit from a democrat. It is not it was filed by a pro-republican CEO who finances Republican Candidates. Now, that deserves Cobert’s alpha-dog trophy.
Comment posted November 1, 2008 @ 12:14 pm
Wordsmith makes a valid point. I’m going to tweak. Thanks.
Comment posted November 5, 2008 @ 5:31 pm
Lazercat hits it right on the head. Not only has Coleman always run these 11th hour scams, he’s perfected them. Only he could coordinate a lawsuit and it’s timing so well. This is an old suit. He and his party knew about it for months and supposedly kept is under wraps as it was being settled out of court. Only Coleman could decide that suddenly on Friday he would not agree to the out-of-court terms and poof; instant lawsuit. He KNEW it was coming because only he could orchestrate it. Then, with a limited news cycle, make sure he adds in all the sadness and bring on all the Minnesota voters who respond very strongly to those they feel are be attacked. Norm knows this as it has never failed him. Icky.
Comment posted November 6, 2008 @ 6:52 am
@”Wordsmith”:
Refute:
1. To prove to be false or erroneous; overthrow by argument or proof: refute testimony.
2. To deny the accuracy or truth of: refuted the results of the poll.
From Answers.com
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