Coleman asks FEC if he can pay civil lawsuit costs with campaign cash

Norm Coleman has formally asked the Federal Election Commission: Can his campaign pay for lawyers to fight civil-suit allegations that implicate him in a cash-funneling scheme?

As David Weigel at Minnesota Independent’s sister site, The Washington Independent, puts it: If you’re donating to Norm Coleman, you might see your dollars sucked into a defense fund for a lawsuit that has little to do with control of the U.S. Senate.

A scandal broke right before the election when lawsuits filed in Texas and Delaware accused Nasser Kazeminy, a Coleman friend and benefactor, of funneling $75,000 to Coleman’s wife’s insurance firm — allegedly to pad a Senate salary Kazeminy likened unfavorably to excrement.

Neither Coleman or his wife, Laurie, were named as defendants in either lawsuit.