The Case Against Coleman

Now that Gov. Rod Blagojevich has been drawn and quartered, what of Minnesota’s Norm Coleman? In its new issue, The New Republic argues that the Republican senator—who’s still fighting Al Franken in court for his seat—committed pay-to-play offenses that were just as dastardly as Blago’s. Coleman’s “almost certainly true alleged scheme” funneled $75,000 from businessman Nasser Kazeminy to Coleman’s wife, Laurie. The plan was for $100,000, but the man Kazeminy ordered to make the payments quit his job and is now suing his employer. Meanwhile, Coleman continues to throw lawsuit after lawsuit at his all but dead Senate race. TNR notes, “Republicans aren’t just defending Coleman, they’re going out of their way to keep him in the public eye! Do they even realize this man is being investigated by the FBI?”