MN-Sen: Voters Go Crazy for a Sharp-Dressed Senator

Norm Coleman has availed himself with great gusto of the various side benefits of being a senator, without too much concern for technicalities like the "Senate Gift Ban." For instance, you may recall from several months ago the story of the Capitol Hill apartment that he rented for a laughable $600 per month from a friend... er... business associate... uh... let's just make that "lobbyist." (He also occasionally outright neglected to pay the rent until the National Journal started asking, and once paid the rent with used furniture, with no problem.)
Turns out Coleman has other means of enjoying the largesse of his closest friends, if by close friends you mean "donors": Harper's just detailed Coleman's relationship with Minnesota businessman and big GOP donor Nasser Kazeminy. This included several junkets, to the Bahamas and Paris, on Kazeminy's plane.

It also included Kazeminy covering the cost for Coleman's clothing shopping sprees, and by that, I don't mean a trip to Target to buy a sweatshirt:


I've been told by two sources that Kazeminy has in the past covered the bills for Coleman's lavish clothing purchases at Neiman Marcus in Minneapolis. The sources were not certain of the dates of the purchases; if they were made before Coleman joined the Senate in 2003, he obviously would not be required to report it under senate rules. But having a private businessman pay for your clothing is never a good idea if you're a public official (Coleman was mayor of St. Paul from 1994 to 2002).
Remember a charming gentleman by the name of Robert Toricelli (aka "The Torch"), who was an up-and-coming Democratic power broker in the Senate until he got swamped by a self-inflicted tidal wave of sleaze in 2002? Apparently, the Torch had a taste for bespoke suits on someone else's dime as well:


In a three-page judgment, the panel chastised Torricelli for allowing businessman David Chang--a friend who later was convicted of illegally siphoning money into the senator's campaign--to provide him with personal gifts that some have called bribes. According to Chang, these "gifts" included cash, Italian-made suits, a 52-inch television and an $8,000 Rolex watch.
Sensing a potential problem here (in the face of a fast-rising Al Franken), Coleman's campaign manager gave a press conference earlier today to deny any wrongdoing on this or any other ethical front. Much hilarious stonewalling ensued . With his race suddenly descending into a tie in the last few days, this is one distraction that Coleman can't afford.


http://swingstateproject.com/showDiary.do;jsessionid=D47CE00228FACD215BE0C223D7939890?diaryId=3370