Franken wins by +312.
No word from the MN Supreme Court on a briefing schedule.
Redford hears the click of the Zippo lighter, then spots the faint glow of the cigarette by the pillar in the parking garage. Hooded by shadows Hal Holbrook rasps out, "Follow the money."
"All the President's Men" In the days when the press was still feared by politicians and reporters gave them reason to fear.
A Bill Comes Due
An affidavit was circulated yesterday, filed with the Court and served on Team Norm (Langdon, Knaak, Trimble & Friedberg.) Not your usual, dry, arcane legal stuff but something to make you reach for the liter-sized "Ein Mass" at the Hofbrau Haus (or maybe the Black Forest Inn about 10 blocks down the street from the wonderful Jerusalem Cafe.) An affidavit dunning Team Coleman for $16,132!
This stems from the Pamela Howell testimony of the ECC trial. Howell was a precinct judge and the Coleman side's star witness to prove their allegation of "double counted/duplicate" ballots (which Coleman claims would be worth about +100 votes net for Franken, and hence should be removed from his total.)
David Lillehaug, Franken's main attorney here in MN, swore out the affidavit. He said he prepped for the testimony with other attorneys in the office, AND noted that Team Coleman had not sent over anything to the Franken side about her testimony, any affidavits, etc. (Pre-trial both sides do "discovery", that is show the other side what evidence/witness/exhibits they plan to introduce at trial. You don't HAVE to use everything, but ahead of time you DO have to SHARE everything. If you don't: BIG, BAD NEWS. All attorneys know: DON'T go there.)
Team Coleman went there. As Lillehaug began cross-examining Howell on 2/25 it became clear there was stuff Team Norm had NOT shared with the Franken side. Lillehaug moved to strike the Howell testimony because of this breach of discovery. GRANTED! (Unusual!)
Coleman's side (esp. attorney Trimble) crawled to the court and asked forgiveness. Thurs. 2/26 the Court agreed and reinstated the witness and her testimony.
Friday, 2/27, Howell is back on the stand for cross-examination and it becomes clear Team Norm has withheld e-mails etc. in discovery. Lillehaug: "I reNEW my motion to strike the testimony (and her CLAIM-- the double counting business) from the trial. GRANTED! (Double unusual!) AND the Court sanctions Team Norm (except for Joe Friedberg) $7500, which is payable to the Court (ECC.) (Sanctions: according to lawyer types around here you NEVER want to have these on your record. To have a $7500 one splattered on there in a high-profile case is grounds for practicing for a new job: "DO you want fries with that?")
AND for wasting the Franken attorney's time for this fiasco and major violation of rules of discovery, (although Howell's testimony was finally re-re-admitted and then cross-examined into insignificance) the ECC in their Final Decision on April 13 ordered Franken's court costs AND ATTORNEY'S FEES for those 3 days to be paid by the Coleman side whenever the Franken Team provided an affidavit of how much these would be.
THAT size 16K shoe dropped like a lead-soled wingtip from 30 stories up yesterday. Link here (h/t to Kossack SageHagRN:) http://www.minnpost.com/...
Who says legal documents can't be fun reading in a dry humor sort of way? On page 4, "the time of Howell's testimony, arguemnts by counsel and the Court striking the testimony was approximately 1.4 hours."
Yeah, it took a little while for the Court to load the ballista and let it fly at Norm Coleman's team. Gad, Lillehaug sounds like Calvin Coolidge on a casual day! (The notoriously tight-lipped President came out of church one Sunday and was met by 2 reporters who hoped to catch him in a little better mood.
1st reporter: "Been to church Mr. President?"
"Yep."
2nd reporter: "Enjoy the service Mr. President?"
"Yep."
1st: "Enjoy the sermon Mr. President?"
"Yep."
2nd: "What was the sermon about Mr. President?"
"Sin."
1st: "Oh really? And what did the minister have to say about sin Mr. President?"
"He's against it.")
And THEN we find out why Team Franken is SO good: you get what you pay for!
Lillehaug: Prep time for Howell testimony 10.5 hours @ $418/hr = $4389.
Trial time for Howell (actual time in front of the UpTake cameras; make-up NOT included) 3.7 hrs. @ $418/hr = $1546.
By the way, David Lillehaug, being, you know, the local talent, from backwater MN...... well he just can't command the legal fees the BIG BOYS can and has to settle for $418 per. Kevin Hamilton, being from a salt-water state like Washington commands a more robust $464 per, and Marc Elias from the Big City of DC pulls down $538 per. AND since each of these 3 (and others) were in the courtroom, their meters were ALSO running for 3.7 hours worth of Howell-ing fiasco time (thats $1716 and $1990 respectively, Tony Trimble, for screwing up rules of discovery.)
BTW, this also means if you are responding to Another Massachusetts Liberal's fund-raising efforts for Franken's legal costs, your, say, $20.08 for the Big Three combined pays for ALMOST 51 seconds of legal fees. ($23.67 = 1 minute.) Or putting it another way, since YOU have contributed through AML's Act Blue page in the amount of over $5000 that is very nearly the 3.7 hours the Big Three Franken Attorneys commanded for the Howell fiasco--- in court, that is. Just sayin'........
Following Other Interesting Money
And just where is the Coleman camp going to come up with that kind of scratch to pay for their legal maneuvers? Well thats what the MN DFL (Democratic Party with old allies Farmer & Labor) wants to know too, and in a kind of nosy way. Yesterday they filed a complaint with the Federal Elections Commission alleging Coleman is using campaign funds from his Senate run to pay for his legal fees in this Contest and Appeal. (A major no-no EXCEPT under certain circumstances.) BUT Coleman, having promised in December to ask the FEC for a ruling on just those circumstances and seeing if they apply to his situation, has never done so. So the MN DFL has gone to work on the FEC to press for a ruling (and NOT a favorable one to Norm.) We'll see:
http://www.minnpost.com/...
And Still MORE Interesting Coleman Money
Now HERE is the change.... we need. Here is the kind of outside-the-box thinking that not only made this country great, but will change this country's future AND will be hell on the current Republican Party. Now we're talking!
Joe Rosenberg over at MNPublius is reporting on a wonderful idea from WCCO TV's Esme Murphy. (Legal types at the front; here's the ball; slant over left guard while the tackle blocks down on the linebacker; break clear and run LONG; on 2!)
My theory is that since Minnesotans are paying taxes to support two US Senators we should get a refund for the days that we have only had one......Right now we have not had a senator for 107 days. At $8,000 a day, that’s about $856,000 we, as taxpayers, have funded for a Senate office that doesn’t exist.
AND since Norm is the proximate cause for this lack, HE should pay most of this as a reimbursement to the state of MN.
GREAT IDEA!... although methinks the lawyer types will have seven reasons to Sunday why it won't/can't work. But lets be positive for once! Grounds FOR this? Class action? I myself am willing to play the victim on this as a MN resident if it will help (neck brace; arm in a braced-out metal prop/sling; shuffle painfully with a cane; moan about my bad back) that can ONLY be remedied by having my pain and suffering relieved. No longer do I want to be "Colemanized"; if I had two Senators I would be able ("I do believe it") to rise up from my chair, leave those crutches behind, take off the neck brace and feel the everlasting healing power flow through me like Chevy Chase playing Claude the faith healer.
http://mnpublius.com/
Friday Morning Media
Just about to skip this today when we get word of an editorial calling on Norm Coleman to give it up. Always like to report comment like that..... but now, from the far eastern suburbs of Stillwater:
Comment From Thomas J. Marlowe]
Editorial in Newark NJ Star Ledger this AM: "Hey Norm, it's over" ... He's being egged on by Republicans in Washington determined to deny Democrats a 59th seat in the Senate. But they're doing their party no good, as many state-level Republicans understand, at a time when the GOP needs desperately to shed the image of strident partisanship ...
New Jersey? Newark? THEIR newspaper thinks Norm's gotta go??
Whoa! I mean when you've lost the Star Ledger it shows the Puritan descendant vote going against you! (IIRC the place was founded in the 1670's as a place of refuge for the righteous fleeing corrupting Dutch influence-- hence the name "New Ark", as in Noah and the flood. I'm sure the natives think of themselves in those terms everyday.) It really is all over. Hang it up Norm!
AND.... YOU reading stuff here and clicking on the links are getting famous. Yes you are! Consider this bit from an Uptake Reader:
[Comment From Dan]
FYI - On "All Things Considered" They had on the founder of a local newspaper(internet)community bulletin out of New Jersey. The discussion was about new type soft news, etc. an e-mailer wrote in to say he grew up in the Minnesota. Loves how smaller/new media are giving him his news from where he lives in the N.East. The host read it - props to- "...to follow the amazing recount in his former state, he now gets his news from Minnpost, THEUPTAKE.O-R-G, & The MN Indy." -it was nice to hear your name !!
OK hope that will hold you until the Supreme Court says what THE schedule will be. Back to the wine shop for the sale this morning so thats the latest from yust southeast of Lake Wobegon.
Shalom.