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COLEMAN FOR U.S. SENATE PRESS RELEASE: “COLEMAN CONDEMNS ATTACKS AGAINST HIS WIFE AND FAMILY”
By Michael Brodkorb | October 31, 2008
Moorhead- Senator Norm Coleman today called on Al Franken and his allies to end their vicious 11th hour political attacks against his wife and his family. The following statement was made by Senator Coleman this morning in Moorhead, Minnesota:
“In a few days, we will have one of the most important elections of our time. But, instead of focusing on the issues, my opponent and his political allies want to divert attention away from this campaign with a false and malicious political attack against my wife.
Let me be clear: Each and every allegation in this lawsuit relating to me and my wife is false and defamatory.
At the eleventh hour, as the people of Minnesota are preparing to go to the polls in a very important election, a smear campaign has been attempted to try to influence that result. This is absolutely outrageous and I know that Minnesotans will see it for what it is: sleazy politics and reject it out of hand.
First of all, I appreciate that the majority of the media who have covered this story so far have been thoughtful in raising legitimate questions about these tactics. The easy thing for me to do would be to let the news coverage stand on its own and trust that Minnesotans will see through this. But Minnesotans deserve more.
When politics crosses an ethical line we have to stand up and call it out for what it is.
Let me tell you how this arose. This is not about public documents researched by an investigative reporter. No. Sometime last week, even before this Texas lawsuit was originally filed, a copy of these false allegations was delivered in Minnesota in an unmarked envelope to two Minneapolis Star Tribune reporters.
Then on Monday of this week, my opponent began running vicious, untrue attacks against me with charges the media called “falseâ€. That same day, some person in Texas, unknown to me or my wife, files the lawsuit with these same allegations given to the reporters a week earlier. Within hours, that lawsuit was withdrawn.
Then, yesterday morning, my campaign filed a legitimate lawsuit against Al Franken and his campaign for violating the state’s fair campaign laws – and before you know it, we learned that this false and malicious lawsuit had been refiled in Texas. And now the Franken campaign and its allies are trying to use it for political advantage.
So today I’m calling for an end to these personal, malicious and unfounded 11th hour attacks. This is not how we do campaigning in Minnesota and, I hope Minnesotans will join me in holding my opponent and his political allies accountable for this.
A few weeks ago I took down my negative ads to put a more positive focus on the issues of the day. That approach has been emphatically rejected by Mr. Franken. If Minnesotans want to know what kind of Senator Al Franken would be – watch his campaign this last week – see how he has attacked my family – my wife – and my reputation.
And, my message to him – to his political allies – and anyone else who intends to attack my wife, and my family, in the remaining days of this campaign is this: get out of the gutter.
My wife has been devastated by this. She turns on her computer and reads on the blogs the most vicious attacks, impugning her integrity and trying to destroy her ability to do her job. She’s angry– and she has a right to be — and so am I.
This is the kind of 11th hour, sleazy attack the people of Minnesota are sick and tired of. This is not the Minnesota way and I know the people of Minnesota. This will backfire. If my opponents have any shred of decency left in this campaign – stop attacking my family.â€
The Facts:Â A Bogus Lawsuit in the Final Days of a Campaign
- This political attack and story began last week with an unsigned, anonymous envelope that was sent to two Star Tribune reporters containing false and baseless allegations against Norm and Laurie Coleman;
- On Monday of this week, Al Franken began his vicious attack ads against Norm Coleman – and a disgruntled former CEO of a company filed a false and baseless lawsuit using the Senator and his wife as bait in a lawsuit;
- It’s a vicious, 11th hour attack and dirty trick that we have come to expect in this campaign;
- The Senator’s wife is entitled to work for a living, and any attacks against her or the Senator’s family will not be tolerated;
- The Senator and his wife were not party to this lawsuit when it was originally filed – and then withdrawn – and still are not party to this lawsuit since it has been refiled. Whatever the person’s agenda, it’s clear that it was intended to use this election as leverage;
- The facts are as follows:
-  The Senator’s wife is a legally licensed insurance agent
-  She has not received one dime from the company that was involved in this lawsuit – she was not the producer on the account – she was not responsible for this transaction in anyway
-Â The allegations in this false lawsuit are without merit and defamatory
- Al Franken and his political allies began this week with a coordinated effort to destroy the Senator’s campaign – in the process they have tried to undermine the Senator and his wife’s reputation – and to attempt to unfairly influence the outcome of an election. With a majority of public polls showing this race slipping further and further out of his grasp – he and his allies have taken out all the stops in their 11th hour attacks;
- Yesterday, we filed an Unfair Campaign Practices complaint against Al Franken and his campaign for their campaign commercials that are falsely attacking the Senator – we believe these ongoing efforts to smear the Senator and his family must come to an end.
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26 Responses to “COLEMAN FOR U.S. SENATE PRESS RELEASE: “COLEMAN CONDEMNS ATTACKS AGAINST HIS WIFE AND FAMILY””
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October 31st, 2008 at 11:08 AM
This is NOT an “11th hour” story.
This is a story that has been bubbling away for a while, and Team Smokescreen has been stonewalling the whole time.
And now this story is boiling over.
And for those that remember facts – which obviously excludes the usual bootlickers – on August 4th, Mark Drake told the press he’d try to get an actual utility bill for reporters to look at; yesterday when asked again about said utility bills at the presser, Drake tried – TRIED – to stonewall again.
And actually, Drake and Team Smokescreen just might get away with that stonewalling; they just might go for 3 months – from August 4th to election day – without proving Coleman’s cheating on his utility bills.
Well, guess what? If Coleman would cheat on his utility bills, what else would he cheat on?
Illegal payments from a Texas company funneled to his wife, perhaps?
Team Smokescreen needs to show utility bills – starting when he first started renting Jeff Larson’s place – and they better not have “FLS” on them.
And they need to do it now.
October 31st, 2008 at 11:29 AM
Tommy the plebe thinks his demands should be answered. By all means Tommy keep barking at your computer and see what changes come. Or better yet get off your fat ass and Do SOMETHING about it. You know…like volunteer for the local Democrats by knocking on doors or working at the local food shelf, something, anything for that matter. You and the likes of Leroy should really be banned from your computers for a while so you can really see that the real world is out there and you can make a bigger difference there than here. Oh thats right…this is easier and takes very little effort and you risk NOTHING!!! You people make me want to puke!!
October 31st, 2008 at 11:30 AM
There’s so much BS coming from Coleman right now it’s hard to keep track – maybe that’s part of the plan.
It is misleading when you say “The Senator’s wife is a legally licensed insurance agent,” because Laurie Coleman is *not* licensed to operate in Texas.
It is also misleading to say “She has not received one dime from the company that was involved in this lawsuit – she was not the producer on the account – she was not responsible for this transaction in anyway” — because she got her money from Hays. Hays was the recipient.
So much of this keeps reminding me that Coleman always does what he falsely accuses his opponents of doing.
October 31st, 2008 at 11:39 AM
[...] COLEMAN FOR U.S. SENATE PRESS RELEASE: “COLEMAN CONDEMNS ATTACKS AGAINST HIS WIFE AND FAMILY&#… | [...]
October 31st, 2008 at 11:44 AM
Aaron: You’re a liar.
October 31st, 2008 at 11:51 AM
pot calling Kettle Black there Mikie…
October 31st, 2008 at 11:54 AM
Wow, the level of spin by liberal nutjobs today outdoes their usual idiotic incompetence. They are so clearly desperate for throw anything they can in hopes something will stick. They’re now worried it’s not working.
Voters are smarter than this. They know last minute stuff like this is nothing but dirty tricks and game playing. Sadly the DFL thinks voters are idiots and believe this crap.
October 31st, 2008 at 12:01 PM
Hey Aaron, you’re a fascist, cowardice asshole. You sleazy cock suckers have taken gutter politics to a new low, led by the fascist hate-peddler, Al Franken. You should be embarrassed.
October 31st, 2008 at 12:11 PM
Aaron -
You might want to think beyond 5 days. If Franken squeaks out a win and this turns out to be a FALSE story, Minnesota will punish your party deeply in 2010. Deeply.
On the other hand, if this story is true and Coleman squeaks out a win, Minnesota will punish our party.
Advice to all – You don’t want to be on the wrong side of this issue. If you win, you better make sure your guy is telling the truth.
October 31st, 2008 at 12:18 PM
“a thought” … “our guy” isn’t even charged with wrongdoing… and there is no basis for this fraudulent charge. This is nothing more than typical dirty tricks by the DFL fascists.
October 31st, 2008 at 12:20 PM
The liberals and Al Franken are lying liars telling lies. There entire campaign has comprised only of lies and false attacks on Norm and his wife.
The DFL and the Franken campaign are an absolute disgrace.
October 31st, 2008 at 12:25 PM
Chestnut – I agree. But if Coleman wins (looks like he will) this story better be false. If it is true, we should get it out of way right now as oppposed to it being used against us in 2010.
On the other hand, if the story is false, Franken better damn well make sure he doesn’t win – because it will become a big stick to beat over the Democrats heads in 2010.
I can imagine the Democrats running for Governor in 2010 are asking Franken to double check and makes sure is clean on this.
October 31st, 2008 at 12:29 PM
a thought — this suit will be dropped before the end of next week, whether he wins or loses. The fraud who filed it already withdrew it once, and his lawyer is on record acknowledging that the suit is bullshit.
Franken and the DFL should pay NOW for this fraud, dirty trick and waste of the court’s time.
What a disgrace.
October 31st, 2008 at 12:30 PM
Frankly, Coleman should go track Franken down and punch him in his fat fascist nose.
October 31st, 2008 at 12:32 PM
… physical attacks are something Franken understands… he’s a violent, physically aggressive, fascist asshole.
October 31st, 2008 at 1:13 PM
“I can imagine the Democrats running for Governor in 2010 are asking Franken to double check and makes sure is clean on this.”
Why would they bother? The Democrat party knows fully well that Al Franken is a pathological liar. He’s also the kind of scumbag that steals from children’s charities.
You put those two proven traits together and you would have to be a dim-wit the likes of Leroy Jenkins to believe anything Al Franken says.
Al Franken would sell his wife’s ass for a vote.
October 31st, 2008 at 1:26 PM
“Al Franken would sell his wife’s ass for a vote.”
… and then defend the action as ‘satire.’
October 31st, 2008 at 2:16 PM
If the lawsuit is something drummed up by Democrats, why would Paul McKim, be a party to it. If my FEC records search is correct , Mr McKim has donated only to Republicans, including Kay Bailey Hutchison, the National Republican Congressional Committee, not to mention democrat favorite Katherine Harris.
October 31st, 2008 at 2:21 PM
How did the DFL and Franken get dragged into this?
Its a bunch of business partners having a fight. Coleman runs with a dirty un-American group. Big shock.
October 31st, 2008 at 2:41 PM
“Coleman runs with a dirty un-American group.”
Ran, Ziggy… he “ran” with… that’s why he left the Democrat party. The DFL today is a very dirty, un-American group.
Just like you, you fascist pig.
October 31st, 2008 at 3:10 PM
DJZ would sell his wife’s ass to cover Al Franken’s.
October 31st, 2008 at 3:19 PM
Do you think anyone would by his goat’s ass, Swiftee?
October 31st, 2008 at 3:21 PM
I mean: Do you think anyone would buy DJZ’s goat’s ass, Swiftee?
October 31st, 2008 at 4:03 PM
The ‘Terrible Twins’ are on at once.
Swiftee must have his laptop on Chester’s back.
November 1st, 2008 at 12:15 AM
This has nothing to do with Franken or the DFL.
November 1st, 2008 at 12:16 AM
Try as you might, this has nothing to do with Franken and everything to do with Colemans greed.
Normie got caught up in a fight between two republicans, and you will never be able to sell the people on a story that Franken orchestrated any of this. Sure, the Dems are running ads on it now, but don’t be confused for one moment.
Norm Colemans greed will be what lands him on the short end on Tuesday, and in prison later down the road. He has only himself to blame.