MNpublius.com

Norm Coleman’s week continues to get worse.

Today, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) filed a complaint with the Senate Select Committee on Ethics asking for an investigation into whether Senator Norm Coleman (R-MN) violated the Senate gifts rule by accepting lodging from Republican operative Jeff Larson.

According to National Journal, in July 2007, Sen. Coleman began paying Mr. Larson $600 per month to rent a portion of a basement apartment in a Capitol Hill townhouse owned by Mr. Larson. After the magazine began making inquiries about the senator‚s living arrangement, Sen. Coleman discovered that he had failed to pay rent in November 2007 and January 2008, and his wife gave Mr. Larson a personal check for the $1,200. Last year, Sen. Coleman sold Mr. Larson some furniture — a couch, table and chairs and a desk — to cover one month‚s rent, and Mr. Larson held onto Sen. Coleman‚s March rent check for three months, until June 17, before cashing it only days after National Journal began asking questions.

The Coleman/Larson connection also was written up in this morning’s Star Tribune and was subject to a KARE 11 story last night.

Remember, Larson is no ordinary Republican insider.  He’s a named partner at FLS, a sister company of the disgraced lobbying consortium DCI Group, which gained notoriety earlier this year when John McCain fired two senior staffers because of their ties to DCI.  Norm Coleman, however, refused to return contributions for DCI’s PAC, perhaps for fear of offending his landlord.