…the senator’s own wife, Laurie Coleman, is employed by Minneapolis-based Hays Companies, according to his latest personal financial disclosure form. The Hays Companies offers clients advice on risk management, commercial insurance, and employee benefits. The firm’s executives, their spouses and employees provided Coleman with $20,700 in campaign contributions between 2002 and 2006.
It’s not clear why a risk management firm would require the services of Laurie Coleman, an aspiring actress and the inventor of the “Blo & Go,” a hands-free hair drying device (“The whole key to this is the suction,” she has explained of her product’s utility.) Coleman’s financial disclosure form doesn’t list his wife’s job description or salary. LeRoy Coleman, the senator’s spokesman, declined to elaborate; the firm did not reply to a request for comment.
Then there’s Nasser Kazeminy:
…a big donor to the G.O.P. and to Coleman. In 2005, the senator and his daughter jetted down to the Bahamas on a private plane owned by Kazeminy, a trip valued at $3,960. In 2004, he and his wife flew to Paris on Kazeminy’s plane, a $2,870 value.
…
I’ve been told by two sources that Kazeminy has in the past covered the bills for Coleman’s lavish clothing purchases at Nieman 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).
Then there’s some humorous correspondence between Silverstein and the Coleman campaign where they essentially refuse to answer his questions. I wonder if anyone in the press in Minnesota can get better answers?
Update: Rachel E. Stassen-Berger tried: “LeRoy Coleman and I did manage to talk but he was no more forthcoming…”
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