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Fresh delay would put off Texas suit against Coleman donor until May

Chris Steller — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 22:50:00 +0000

Both sides in the Texas lawsuit accusing Minnesota businessman Nasser Kazeminy of funneling money to Norm Coleman want to extend an existing 60-day delay by another 30 days, putting off any possible trial action until early May. That’s about the time by which the former U.S. senator said today he expects the Minnesota Supreme Court to rule on an appeal that he has promised to file in his legal effort to overturn Democrat Al Franken’s 312-vote lead in their disputed Senate race.

Coleman isn’t named in the lawsuit (or in a similar suit pending in Delaware), but he is implicated by charges that Kazeminy ordered officers of a business he controlled, Houston-based Deep Marine Technology, to send $100,000 to Hays Companies, the St. Paul insurance firm where Coleman’s wife, Laurie, works.

The two former Deep Marine executives who brought the suit have given sworn testimony that although the payments were ostensibly for insurance advice, they don’t know of any such service being rendered. And, they claim, Kazeminy introduced his instructions by saying, “United States senators don’t make shit.”

Coleman charged that the lawsuit, filed shortly before last November’s election, was meant to damage his campaign. He blamed his political enemies, including Franken — a charge the Democrat denied.

Sen. Hutchison may stick around — another sign GOP readying for Sen. Franken

Chris Steller — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 14:28:50 +0000

Senate Republicans already quietly signaled acceptance that Al Franken will take former U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman’s old seat by agreeing to a tentative committee-assignment plan that factors in the Minnesota Democrat. Now comes news that Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) may reconsider her plan to resign for a 2010 gubernatorial run. The reason, according to The Politico: Republicans “fear that a special election — even in deeply red Texas — could give Democrats a 60-seat, filibuster-resistant majority in the Senate … assuming Al Franken is seated from Minnesota.” If Hutchinson resigns, Republican Gov. Rick Perry appoints a temporary replacement, pending a special election, which would take place in November or in May 2010, depending on the timing of her departure.

Video: Star Tribune squeamish over reporters asking Coleman about lawsuit in Dem ad

Chris Steller — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 15:48:14 +0000

An editor’s note in today’s Star Tribune is the latest sign of the newspaper’s squeamishness about its own reporting of what are now two lawsuits alleging back-channel payoffs to U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman:

EDITOR’S NOTE
The Democratic Senate [sic] Campaign Committee is running TV ads featuring a Star Tribune reporter questioning Sen. Norm Coleman about a lawsuit noted in this report. The video in the ad was filmed without the knowledge or consent of the Star Tribune.

The original video shows Strib reporter Paul McEnroe trying to ask Coleman about the first lawsuit filed in Texas this week as Coleman left a St. Cloud cafe Tuesday. See the original video here. See the DSCC’s ad – and the halting count of specially-moderated reader comments at startribune.com – after the jump.

Online, editors have tagged Strib stories on the Coleman-cash allegations with this unusual warning in red type:

Due to the sensitive nature of this story, comments will be reviewed before being published.

UPDATE: As of 11:15 a.m. today, 156 reader comments had survived the Strib’s special moderation — but that number hadn’t changed for at least two hours.

UPDATE: As of 12:35 p.m., reader comments – the most recent of which carries a timestamp of 4:42 p.m. yesterday, on a story last updated yesterady at 11:04 p.m. — have dropped by one, to 155. That suggests startribune.com does indeed have a moderator at work, but one who has so far focused his or her efforts on removing reader comments about this “sensitive” story rather than allowing any new comments to appear.

UPDATE: At 8:30 p.m., still stuck at 155. Apparently the Star Tribune will not permit further online reader comment about today’s article, just as the newspaper banned its columnists from commenting about the election. Strib editors will allow themselves to publish the editor’s note, but it’s not clear why they saw a need, since the DSCC ad below refers only to “reporters” and makes no mention of the Star Tribune.

Texas lawsuit alleging that Coleman received tainted $75,000 from pal Kazeminy is re-instated

Paul Demko — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 02:06:15 +0000

The Texas lawsuit alleging that Sen. Norm Coleman fraudulently received $75,000 from longtime political patron Nasser Kazeminy has been re-instated, according to attorney Casey Wallace, who is representing plaintiff Paul McKim in the case. The lawsuit had been “unsuited,” in the parlance of Texas courts, as the two sides pursued a settlement.

“We entered into serious settlement negotiations,” says Wallace. “Those broke down today.”

Plaintiff Paul McKim

The lawsuit alleges that Kazeminy steered $75,000 through a Texas firm he controls to Coleman through a job his wife, Laurie Coleman, held with a Minnesota insurance firm. If Coleman received such a gift and failed to report it, the repercussions could extend beyond his reelection prospects. Earlier this week, Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens was convicted of seven felony counts after failing to report gifts from friends on federal disclosure forms.

Coleman campaign manager Cullen Sheehan has denied the allegation, calling it “baseless,” and claiming that the lawsuit is politically motivated.

Wallace denies this assertion. “It was absolutely, positively not done for political purposes,” he says. “It has nothing to do with the election.”

Previous MnIndy coverage:

Video: Sen. Norm Coleman flees reporters asking about pal Kazeminy’s Texas lawsuit
Latest Coleman & Kazeminy connection: The Star Tribune needs to tell the story
Coleman and Kazeminy redux: Here’s the legal complaint in McKim v. Kazeminy et al