Is the FBI breathing down Norm Coleman's neck?

As the former senator presses his case for his Senate seat in court, the feds are taking a look at some potentially shady dealings.

Published May 14, 2009 4:00PM (EDT)

Former Sen. Norm Coleman must be getting sick of lawyers by now. According to the St. Paul Pioneer Press, the litigious Minnesota Republican, still waging his scorched earth campaign against incipient-Senator Al Franken, is also the subject of a widening FBI investigation.

Allegations first surfaced in October that Coleman had allowed a financier named Nasser Kazeminy to buy suits for him (prompting this widely noted, painful-to-watch press conference). In December, a source told the Pioneer Press that the FBI was looking into allegations that Kazeminy had tried to funnel $100,000 to Coleman and his wife indirectly. And Thursday, the Pioneer Press reported that another anonymous source claims to have been questioned by the FBI about Coleman’s suit-buying habits.

When asked by the Pioneer Press whether Coleman had been contacted by the FBI, his lawyer replied, “The senator called for an investigation by the appropriate authorities and has promised to cooperate fully with them. To that end, any further comment is not necessary.” Earl Gray, the lawyer for Coleman's wife Laurie, added, “I think your information is baseless, and I haven't heard anything. I don't think your information is accurate at all.”

The former senator was last seen wearing a thick beard and surprisingly well-tailored combat fatigues, holed up with heavily-armed loyalists, and some lawyers, in a fortified camp in the Iron Range.


By Gabriel Winant

Gabriel Winant is a graduate student in American history at Yale.

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