Then remember the funny lawsuit where Team Coleman said Franken “lied”? Well, I guess Coleman might very well be the fourth most corrupt Senator afterall (via David Brauer):
At issue: whether Coleman could fairly be attacked as the fourth-most corrupt Senator based on the rankings of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), a D.C. watchdog group.
In the ruling (PDF), Judge Barbara Neilson writes:
All told, there are three senators identified on CREW’s list of the “20 Most Corrupt Members of Congress,” and one senator (Senator Coleman) identified on CREW’s list of “Dishonorable Mentions. … Because the statement made in the Franken advertisements accurately captures the “gist” or “sting” of Senator Coleman’s placement in the CREW listing of the 20 “most corrupt” members of Congress and “four to watch,” there is not probable cause to believe that a violation of the statute has occurred.
Okay, so the courts didn’t say he is the fourth most corrupt Senator, but they certainly didn’t dispute it and they did agree that CREW was bi-partisan.
This was nothing more than a stunt.
Everyone who has followed Coleman knew it was a stunt, his standard M.O., another way to smear his opponent at the last minute by filing a baseless lawsuit.
The emphasized part of The Good Judge’s ruling, that follows, is what caught my eye:
***
Because the statement made in the
Franken advertisements accurately captures the “gist” or “sting” of Senator
Coleman’s placement in the CREW listing of the 20 “most corrupt” members of
Congress and “four to watch,” there is not probable cause to believe that a
violation of the statute has occurred. The statement is substantially accurate, if
not literally true in every detail. (emphasis added)
***
Bwahaha!
The broadcorps are the suxzorz