The Minneapolis StarTribune reports today that Jeff Larson, the man who provided the credit card for Sarah Palin's $75,000 Neiman Marcus shopping spree is the same man who rented a fancy DC apartment to Norm Coleman (R-MN) for only $600.
Larson, the CEO of the convention host committee and founding partner of the influential Twin Cities telemarketing firm FLS Connect, declined to discuss Palin' s $75,000 shopping trip at Neiman Marcus in Minneapolis.
Federal Election Commission reports show that Larson has been reimbursed, and the Republican National Committee has said that all the merchandise will be given to charity after the election.
The DC apartment in question is in a $1.5 million townhouse, and Coleman really only has to pay rent when he feels like it. Said the National Journal in June,
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.
Maybe Norm repaid Larson in shopping tips to pass along to Palin - after all, he's had GOP donor pals pay for his own lavish spending at the Minneapolis Neiman Marcus
Contribute to Al Franken here and we'll see if Norm can do his own shopping from now on.