Judge Barbara Neilson dismissed half of Sen. Norm Coleman’s complaint against Al Franken on Monday ruling that Franken’s claim that Coleman lived in “an almost rent-free apartment” paid for by friend Jeff Larson did not violate Minnesota law. Coleman filed the complaint last week with the Office of Administrative Hearings alleging that a Franken campaign ad contained false information about Coleman.

Neilson will conduct evidence gathering on Wednesday — the day after the election — on Franken’s claim that a non-partisan watchdog group called Coleman the “fourth most corrupt Senator according to a bipartisan watchdog group.”

The Franken campaign contends that the Coleman lawsuit is a distraction from a lawsuit filed last Monday alleging that Coleman friend Nassar Kazeminy asked a business partner to funnel money to Coleman and his wife through her job at a Minnesota insurance agency.

Touting Judge Neilson’s decision Monday, Franken spokesperson Andy Barr said, “We always thought Senator Coleman’s lawsuit was a smokescreen to divert attention from the sworn affidavit in Texas that Norm Coleman’s close friend Nasser Kazeminy conspired to funnel $100,000 to Senator Coleman. The smoke is starting to clear.”