Norm Coleman doesn't pay his rent:
Most curiously, Larson provides Coleman with a place to live in Washington. In July 2007, Coleman began paying Larson $600 a month in rent for a portion of a one-bedroom basement apartment in a Capitol Hill town house that Larson owns. The way Coleman explained the arrangement, the apartment serves as a crash pad. The 58-year-old senator sleeps in a bed shoehorned into a 10-by-10 bedroom, and he said he spends perhaps only "three waking hours a night" in the place.
Earlier this month, after National Journal questioned Coleman and Larson about the living arrangement, the senator said he discovered that his rent for last November and January had not been paid. In mid-June, Coleman covered the back rent with a personal check for $1,200 made out to Larson and signed by the senator's wife. Last year, Coleman sold furniture to Larson to cover one month's rent, according to Larson. And Larson held on to yet another month's rent check for three months, cashing it a few days after NJ's inquiries.
Norm Coleman doesn't pay his utility bills:
DFL officials are asking the Senate Ethics Committee to investigate whether Sen. Norm Coleman's nonpayment of utility bills for 12 months at his Washington apartment violated the Senate's gift ban.
Trips to Pebble Beach, Los Angeles, West Palm Beach, Las Vegas, Miami, the Kenai Classic, and twice to Beaver Creek - Norm Coleman doesn't pay for those either.
Now it looks like Norm Coleman's expensive suites in clothing are also paid for by his friends:
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
Norm Coleman's campaign is not disputing the story. Here is an email exchange between the reporter and his source:
My [Ken Silverstein of Harpers] email to LeRoy Coleman:
Wanted to run this by you one last time: Two sources have told me that Nasser Kazeminy has paid for clothing for Senator Coleman and his wife at Nieman Marcus… Seems like a pretty straightforward question, and [I] was hoping I could get a response to it. If it’s not accurate, please let me know. [I] am planning to write an item about this over next day or two; if Senator Coleman disputes the accounts I have heard, I would like to know.
Coleman’s response:
As required, any gift Norm Coleman has received from his friends has been fully reported.
To Coleman:
Sorry to be so persistent, and maybe I’m missing something here, but I am still hoping you can just give me a direct “yes or no” answer: Has Nasser Kazeminy paid for clothing for Senator Coleman and/or his wife at Nieman Marcus? If, so, when were the purchases made? Was he already in the Senate [then], or was it prior to his joining the Senate? Saying he’s reported any gifts “as required” does not necessarily mean Kazeminy has not paid for Coleman’s purchases at Nieman.
Coleman’s response:
As required, any gift Norm Coleman has received from his friends has been fully reported.
There you have it. Norm Coleman truly is Senator Mooch.
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A one-bedroom basement apartment on Capitol Hill in DC goes for $1200-2000/month. Six hundred may be a lot in Akron, Ohio, or Waco, Texas, but it’s a deep discount for a nice pad within walking distance from the seat of government of the world’s former sole superpower. And Coleman isn’t even paying that. Which means that what he isn’t paying is a gift, a political donation that should be disclosed and accounted for as such and hasn’t been.
BTW, nobody who makes a Senator’s six-figure salary pays rent by selling furniture to the landlord, nor do landlord’s forgive rent or hold pre-dated checks until it’s convenient to cash them. Safe to say, Coleman’s relationship with his landlord is not arm’s length. It’s real cozy. At least while he’s in government, with his taxpayer paid salary and full benefits, Mr. Coleman will never imagine that his housing choices are limited to being evicted or suicide by shooting.
What else is Mr. Coleman not paying for, and what are his constituents paying to his contributors in exchange for him not paying his own way?
That picture is just downright scary. Made the post hard to read, but lots of good info there.
I agree. All Franken has to do is put up an ad saying, “do you want this zombie to represent MN in the US Senate?????”
It the before picture from his dentists office pre surgery. (I am not joking)
Why the hell is Coleman so cashed strapped? His financial records indicated a son who is taking out substantial student loans, so maybe some is on tuition? Weird.