fritz knaak

“Chilling,” “frightening,” “scary.” That’s how former U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman described an apparent breach of confidential donor data at his campaign Web site. It’s “obviously an attack on this campaign,” he said.

Wednesday afternoon, Norm Coleman’s attorney, Fritz Knaak, officially responded to news that Wikileaks.org had posted information indicating that sensitive data about Coleman donors has been exposed. Following a press release by Wikileaks.org earlier in the day, which stated the data exposure was the “result of sloppy handling by the campaign,” Knaak characterized the presence of [...]

He didn’t get the chance to say it on the stand, under cross-examination in the Senate election-contest trial. But Minnesota Deputy Secretary of State Jim Gelbmann, a Democrat, voted Nov. 4 for neither Al Franken nor Norm Coleman, opting instead for Independence Party candidate Dean Barkley. Franken’s attorney was leading him with a line of [...]

Norm Coleman attorney Fritz Knaak again broaches the possibility of a Coleman concession in an interview conducted 10 days ago and posted by his hometown paper last night. But he is being conjectural and makes sure to cast aspersions on his client’s Democratic rival’s theoretical victory. “Even if Norm were to concede,” Knaak says, “there [...]

Norm Coleman’s lawyers said today they might ask a three-judge panel to open every absentee ballot that was rejected in Minnesota’s contested Senate election. That would be about 12,000 ballots, or nearly 10 times the 1,350 that the state Canvassing Board examined during a recount that left Al Franken with a 225-vote lead.

“Franken filed a petition with the Minnesota Supreme Court … that’s a bit like a bank robber stopping on his way out the door to ask the teller for a receipt.” That’s how an e-mail appeal for funds from the campaign of former U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman described today’s legal move by the Al Franken [...]

Norm Coleman’s attorneys vowed to go to court to make up the ground the incumbent Republican lost today after more than 900 absentee ballots that had been mistakenly rejected were tallied, increasing Democratic challenger Al Franken’s lead for Coleman’s U.S. Senate seat to 225. “We’ll take whatever legal action … to remedy this artificial lead,” said Coleman recount attorney Fritz Knaak.

“I’ve had better days,” Knaak conceded. “The numbers are what they are.” But he repeated that the “process was broken” and predicted that “the election will still be called in Coleman’s favor.”

The Minnesota Supreme Court will not wade into the murky issue of allegedly double-counted ballots in the U.S. Senate contest. Sen. Norm Coleman’s campaign believes that in some instances both duplicate and original ballots were mistakenly included in the manual recount. It had asked the state’s top court to enjoin the canvassing board from certifying any election results until the issue is resolved.

You can’t tell the players in the Minnesota Senate recount drama with a scorecard — even a Politico blog that’s called The Scoreboard misattributed a quote (since corrected) on Monday from Marc Elias, a lawyer for Al Franken, as coming from Fritz Knaak, U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman’s recount attorney. Minnesota media mostly keep those two straight, but even locals find the profusion of Scandinavian surnames in the various recount venues vexing. More including the Anderson Effect and a Sven-and-Ole routine, after the jump.

Shortly after the state canvassing board reconvened this morning, Al Franken moved into the lead for the first time during the U.S. Senate recount. The Democrat’s lead grew to more than 250 votes by the time the five-member panel broke for lunch and It is expected to continue increasing throughout the day.