Another Republican In Trouble ?

It seems as though when it rains it pours for Senator Norm Coleman of Minnesota. It was bad enough that six weeks after the November 4th election, the Republican senator still cannot claim victory in his re-election bid. He leads by 200 votes over his opponent Al Franken, but there are still 1500 challenged ballots to be examined and either counted or discarded (and the majority of those were challenged by Coleman).

But now it looks like he may have another problem, even if he survives the recount. He has hired a top criminal defense attorney, and it looks like he is preparing to be investigated by the federal government -- possibly for taking bribes from wealthy businessman Nasser Kazeminy.

Two lawsuits have been filed against Kazeminy, accusing him of funneling at least $75,000 to Sen. Coleman through his wife Laurie Coleman. Mrs. Coleman has also hired an attorney.

Coleman spokesman Luke Friedrich said the attorneys were hired to "to work cooperatively with authorities when such an investigation is conducted, and to quickly expose these allegations for what they are, and to hold those who made these false allegations against the Senator accountable."

But I have to wonder, if the allegations are false why are the two defense attorneys needed for Coleman and his wife? If they didn't take the money, all they have to do is deny it. The feds can't find evidence of a bribe that never happened.

No, the attorneys are needed because the senator and his wife did take the money. They need the attorneys to obfuscate the issues and try to make the "donation" somehow appear legal. The attorneys had better be good, because it looks awfully suspicious that the money was funneled through the wife. That makes it look like they were trying to hide it, and the only reason to hide it would be because it is illegal.

Looks like Coleman could wind up losing that senate seat -- even if he wins it at the ballot box.