Photo: MnIndy/Chris Steller

Photo: Chris Steller, Minnesota Independent

Being out of office has its privileges. One consolation for Norm Coleman after finally conceding defeat to Al Franken: seeing ethics complaints and investigations in his rearview mirror.

Most of the complaints lodged against Coleman over the past year won’t survive his transition to former U.S. senator, but at least one federal investigation and allegations made in civil court continue. Here’s a rundown.

Rentgate
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) filed a complaint with the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Ethics last summer regarding Coleman’s living arrangements in the nation’s capital, following reports that the then-senator leased a basement apartment from GOP operative Jeff Larson for a mere $600 per month.

“We imagine our ethics complaint will die — as the committee no longer has jurisdiction over Mr. Coleman,” said CREW’s Peter Bjork.

Donorgate
Shortly after Minnesota’s inconclusive U.S. Senate election last November, the advocacy group Alliance for a Better Minnesota filed complaints with the Senate Ethics Committee and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) about allegations that friend and benefactor Nasser Kazeminy had funneled $75,000 to Coleman via a business arrangement with Coleman’s wife’s employer.

ABM’s ethics complaint likely died with Coleman’s hopes of regaining his Senate seat, but any action by the FBI — including, according to news reports, an investigation — would continue “[regardless] of the fact that an individual is in or out of office,” according to FBI spokesman Bill Carter.

Likewise, the civil lawsuits containing the allegations against Kazeminy will proceed regardless of Coleman’s status. “Whether he’s elected or not elected, is embarassed or not embarassed, has no bearing on the case,” says Casey Wallace, plaintiffs’ attorney in a business dispute that only tangentially involves Coleman.

Wallace contends an investigation by the board of Kazeminy’s company that cleared Kazeminy of all wrongdoing is itself “wrong,” and says a companion lawsuit, in Delaware, to the original complaint, in Texas, will soon be re-filed.

Suitgate
The FBI is also said to be investigating allegations that Kazeminy paid for Coleman’s suits. As with looking into the alleged cash gift, the FBI won’t confirm or deny.

Leakgate
When donors’ financial data leaked from Coleman’s campaign website, his lawyers said the U.S. Secret Service would investigate. That investigation is “still ongoing,” according to spokesman Ed Donavan. Whether it’s focused on malicious hackers or the website’s lack of safeguards is unclear. But “the fact that he’s out of office [doesn't matter],” Donavan said. “We’re still going to pursue the investigation.”

Helpgate
Coleman said last December that he would seek advice from the Federal Election Commission (FEC) about whether it would be legal for his campaign to pay for expenses related to the Kazeminy lawsuit, in which Coleman is not named as a defendant. That month, ABM asked the FEC to investigate whether the campaign was in fact already doing so. The FEC did — but it took six months, and in the end the commission decided most payments by the campaign to Coleman’s lawyers would be legal.

The FEC’s advisory opinion applied not only to expenses Coleman incurs in the Kazeminy lawsuits, but also to expenses related to ethics complaints. The FEC specifically avoided ruling on whether Coleman’s recount committee — as opposed to his election campaign fund — could cover his bills. (Coleman hadn’t asked them that question, commissioners said.)