Norm and Laurie Coleman on the campaign trail earlier this fall (Paul Demko/Minnesota Independent)

Norm and Laurie Coleman (Paul Demko/Minnesota Independent)

Norm Coleman may be violating federal campaign finance laws by paying his personal legal bills with campaign funds, according to charges in a complaint filed today by the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party with the Federal Elections Commission. The controversy stems from a pair of lawsuits alleging that longtime Coleman associate Nasser Kazeminy attempted to funnel $75,000 to the Republican politician while he was serving in the U.S. Senate.

A Coleman spokesman told the Star Tribune in December that the then-senator would seek a ruling from the FEC on whether it was appropriate to use campaign funds to cover his legal bills stemming from the suits. But the federal agency has no records of any such request from the Republican. Although Coleman is not a party to either of the lawsuits, he has hired attorney Doug Kelley to represent his interests.

“Mr. Coleman owes Minnesotans an explanation,” said DFL chair Brian Melendez in a statement, “both for why he is paying for his own legal problems with money that he received for entirely different purposes, and for why he hasn’t taken any steps to ensure that he is acting within the law, after promising months ago that he would seek a formal opinion.”

This is the second complaint filed with the FEC over the matter. In January, Alliance for a Better Minnesota raised similar questions about the Coleman campaign’s finances in a letter to the federal agency. The nonprofit group is yet to receive a response on the matter from the FEC.