Cole-gate: Colemans' rennovations overlap with payments to Laurie's company, DC house buy

Norm Coleman was undertaking an expensive home renovation project when his friend and benefactor Nasser Kazeminy allegedly ordered a cash transfer to Coleman through the insurance company that employs his wife, Laurie.

The first of three $25,000 payments from Kazeminy's Deep Marine Technology to the Hays Company went through in March of 2007:

While Coleman didn't agree to sit down for a interview, his campaign did agree to share billing records of the remodeling project. Original projections in 2006 estimated a cost of $328,000, but four months later, the construction cost was estimated at $414,000, over-budget by $86,000.

During that time is when, the lawsuit alleges, Kazeminy was trying to get money to Coleman.

According to the lawsuits, in March of 2007, Kazeminy said that "U.S. Senators don't make s---" and he was going to try to find a way to get money to Coleman.

"On the one level it could just be a coincidence, on the other level this could be one of the reasons he's getting that money from elsewhere, to try to make up for his, to be able to pay off a loan, pay off a line of credit," says Schultz.

Records provided by the campaign show that Coleman paid Wilsey in full for the renovation -- $414,000. In part, by refinancing his home in March 2007,for $775,000. [Fox 9, St. Paul]

Yesterday, I discussed the details of the Texas lawsuit that alleging that Kazeminy paid off Coleman through Deep Marine Technology, an oil services company that Kazeminy controlled. The "U.S. Senators don't make [expletive deleted in the original]" comment is attributed to Kazeminy in the Texas lawsuit.

A separate lawsuit filed a few days later in Delaware makes essentially the same charge. The Delaware suit cites a confidential source who claims that Kazeminy said at the time that Coleman needed the money.

The home renovations project is reminiscent of the home rennovations that got Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens into trouble. Fun fact: Norm Coleman's chief of staff is married to Ted Stevens' chief of staff.

Norm Coleman had yet another stroke of luck in March of 2007. His good buddy Jeff Larson, of the Republican consulting firm FLS Connect, bought the house on Capitol Hill where Coleman would rent a suite for a mere $600 a month. Larson was a pretty relaxed landlord who didn't always cash Coleman's rent checks and once allowed the senator to pay his back rent in used furniture.

Larson's wife worked for Coleman in his Minnesota office.

Coleman hired FLS Connect for his own campaign. Larson and Coleman worked together to bring the 2008 Republican National Convention to the Twin Cities. The RNC was a cash cow for FLS Connect.

During the RNC, Larson bought suits for Sarah Palin at Neiman Marcus in Minneapolis, the same store where Nasser Kazeminy allegedly picked up clothing tabs for the Coleman's.  During the campaign, it was reported that an unnamed "wealthy GOP donor" footed the bill for at least part of Palin's RNC shopping spree.

Comments

[Alon Levy]

DC without corruption is like New York without the subway, or LA without the smog.

[Alon Levy]

DC without corruption is like New York without the subway, or LA without the smog.

[TB]

Isn't that what Ted Stevens got nailed for?

[Greg Abbott]

Yes.

This has been another episode of simple answers to simple questions.

[Greg Abbott]

Yes.

This has been another episode of simple answers to simple questions.