Legal bills aside, parties’ Coleman-Franken payouts at near-equal trickle

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) covered $500,000 of U.S. Sen. Al Franken’s recount-related legal costs last month, the Associated Press reports. The National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) already made its big payout ($938,000) to former Sen. Norm Coleman’s lawyers in May, so last month it paid out a relative trickle ($8,640). Legal bills aside, a Minnesota Independent analysis of Federal Election Commission filings shows that in July, the DSCC mopped up a nearly equal amount of miscellaneous expenses ($7,957) on behalf of Franken. Recount!