“If he doesn’t go back to the senate than the Ethics Committee goes away,” said the attorney who has followed the issue closely. “So, in some ways, Norm’s best legal move is to lose on Tuesday. But if he goes back then the ethics committee will almost certainly look at it.”
At issue is the reporting of the $75,000 in payments. Under Senate Ethics rules, members of that congressional body are required to disclose gifts of a certain monetary value that are given with knowledge of their political positions. Coleman’s personal financial disclosure forms never report the payments.
“Under the current ethics rule [the $75,000] is a gift to him if he knew about it and believed it was given to him because his position as a Senator,” said Larry Noble a longtime expert on money in politics and currently a lawyer with the firm, Skadden Arps. “If those two are true, he would have reporting obligations and would have had to report it… And yes, we have seen people get in trouble with that before.”
Earlier, MNpublius listed what may happen to Norm Coleman when all is said and done. The Huffington Post suggests that Norm Coleman’s legal troubles may be lessened if he is no longer in the Senate. Huffington Post’s Sam Stein:
This post is too ridiculous, and it comes in the wake of a series of other bad posts on this site regarding the Senate race.
It is just not honorable to use the specter of criminal charges to try to scare a candidate for elected office. There’s a reason the Founders provided for special impeachment procedures. There’s a reason they gave Congressmen immunity from arrest when traveling to and from the Capitol. That reason is that ENFORCEMENT OF THE LAW IS NOT A POLITICAL GAME. If Sen. Coleman is guilty of anything (an allegation in a civil complaint proves nothing) then let justice be done in the manner prescribed by law. But for political commentators to use nonexistent criminal charges as an attack on a candidate is just sleazy. We’re Minnesotans. We’re DFLers. And this is beneath us. I hope that in 2010, MNPublius can return to the quality it showed in the 2006 elections, rather than the 2008 elections.
What is dishonorable is for an incumbent senator up for re-election to accuse his opponent of smearing his wife and spreading lies and innuendo when the suit comes out of Texas and his opponent knew nothing about it and had nothing to do with it in the first place.
What is dishonorable is for the same senator to try to make us believe that he really does have a room in DC for $600 a month including utilities.
And don’t even get me started on the ads this same senator has run.
Giving legal advice without being a lawyer?
Do I see a law being broken here?
But that’s ok, I guess, since it is the Dems that are doing it……
The legal advice came from a lawyer, not MNpublius (re-read the post). Nothing there that indicates a violation of non-attorney practice laws.
Lets just talk about the issues. Noerm Coleman has performed very poorly for Minnesotans and doesnt appear to understand that. hes so far away from everyday people, he cant even understand what people are concerned about, namely, The U.S.Constitution, the Invasion of Iraq, the shameful bailout for wall street fat cats, the disintegration and usrption of the U.S. justice department. Norm has to go face the music. His team broke all the rules and now they’ve been disqualified.
1) Usurption of the Justic system 2) Ignoring the U.S. constitution 3) shameful bailout of Wall street
4) invasion and occupation of Iraq, firing generals who disagreed Fire All those responsible for these embarrassing chapters in American history.
Wow, that is shady!