Sen. Ted Stevens will likely be booted out of the Senate even if he wins re-election, because of his felony corruption conviction. The same fate may yet await Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN).
Last month, just before the election, a whistleblower filed a lawsuit against his former employer, DMT (Deep Marine Technologies) of Houston, TX. The suit alleged that DMT agreed to a sham contract with The Hays Companies, an insurance consulting firm, with the intent of funneling cash from DMT to a Hays consultant: one Laurie Coleman, who just happens to be the wife of US Senator Norm Coleman. Under the "contract", Laurie Coleman allegedly received $75,000 (and it would have been $100K had not the scheme been uncovered) for doing absolutely nothing of value for DMT. The instigator of this sham contract was the controlling shareholder of DMT, and longtime friend, contributor, suit-buyer, and political sugar-daddy for Senator Norm, Nasser Kazimeny. The owner of the Hays Companies, Jim Hays, is another wealthy Coleman supporter and contributor.
The whistleblower who filed the suit ought to know: he is Paul McKim, former CEO of DMT, who describes himself a "die-hard Republican." Election records show that in 2006 McKim made small contributions to Kay Bailey Hutchison and Katherine Harris.
A second lawsuit, filed in Delaware by a group of minority shareholders in DMT, describes essentially the same circumstances, but with a bizarre additional twist. According to the Delaware filing, Kazeminy first tried to have DMT give the $100 K bribe payment salary directly to Senator Norm Coleman personally. Only the intervention of DMT company officers scotched that proposal. The Delaware suit also names McKim as a defendant, and it's clear from his filing that McKim filed his suit as a pre-emptive strike to place the blame for the unfolding scandal on the worst actor, Kazeminy.
So what has been the reaction from parties named in these suits? Quick and vehement denials:
Senator Norm Coleman:
Each and every allegation in this lawsuit relating to me and my wife is false and defamatory.
A more intersting reaction comes from The Hays Companies:
We believe the allegations in the lawsuit referenced in a story in today's Star Tribune newspaper -- a lawsuit to which we are not a party -- are libelous and defamatory, and we intend to protect our name and our reputation vigorously with whatever means necessary. ...
Laurie Coleman, who is fully and legally licensed to sell insurance in Minnesota, has been an Independent Contractor for Hays Companies since 2006. We are pleased with her work, and we find any allegations that she accepted money for work she was not responsible for to be outrageous and contemptible.
Laurie Coleman receives no compensation related to the services we provide for our client Deep Marine Technology. In the first half of 2007, we were retained to provide our risk management consulting services, and that work continues at this time.
Compare that to this quote from the McKim filing (pdf):
In March 2007, Kazeminy telephoned B.J. Thomas, then DMT's Chief Financial Officer. In that conversation, Kazeminy told Mr. Thomas that "U.S. Senators don't make [expletive deleted]" and that he was going to find a way to get money to United States Senator Norm Coleman of Minnesota and wanted to utilize DMT in the process. Mr. Thomas later approached Mr. McKim, asking him whether this was appropriate and whether they should follow Kazeminy's orders.
Mr. McKim told him that it was not appropriate, and shortly thereafter he spoke with Kazeminy. In his conversation with Kazeminy, Mr. McKim was informed of the same purpose as was Mr. Thomas in his conversation with Kazeminy. In this same conversation, Kazeminy told Mr. McKim that he [Kazeminy] would make sure there was paperwork to make it appear as though the payments were made in connection with legitimate transations, explaining further that Senator Coleman's wife, Laurie, worked for the Hays Companies ("Hays"), an insurance broker in Minneapolis, and that the payments could be made to Hays for insurance. When Mr. McKim made further objections Kazeminy repeatedly threatened to fire Mr. McKim, telling him "this is my company" and that he and Mr. Thomas had better follow his orders in paying Hays. Subsequently, Kazeminy caused Hays to produce a document entitled "Disclosure of Service Fee" which purported to legitimize the basis of the payments to be made to Hays by DMT.
The filing also contains a copy of the "Disclosure of Service Fee", in which Hays claims to be providing insurance brokerage services for DMT, but where the companies providing the insurance are (rather suspiciously) unnamed.
Inquiring minds want to know:
If Laurie Coleman doesn't get paid for any DMT-related work, as Hays claims, what was the nature of her work in the last two years, for what Hays clients, and how much was she paid for it?
Certainly any company that is willing to protect itself "with whatever means necessary" could provide the press with answers to these questions, as this kind of documentation could easily clear the innocent parties involved. And since Laurie Coleman isn't an employee of Hays, but only a contractor (although Coleman himself disagrees on this point in his financial filing), Hays has no legal interest in her privacy and could publish this data with impunity. That would certainly be one necessary means to prove its innocence.
And of course, a reporter, Eric
Black of MinnPost, has asked Hays for these documents. And he's gotten stonewalled.
Coleman himself was also asked by Black to supply specifics of Laurie Coleman's contract with Hays and her salary. He has also stonewalled Black. You may also remember that Coleman's first gut reaction to the filing of this lawsuit was to run from the press.
Nasser Kazeminy has gone to ground, hiding from the press at an undisclosed location.
Hmmmmmm. Any means necessary? Smells more like a coverup to me.
Let's be clear: if the allegations in these lawsuits are true, then Norm Coleman is guilty of the same felony that is about to get Ted Stevens kicked out of the US Senate: failing to report gifts on his financial statement. Losing the recount might be the least embarrassing thing to happen to Norm Coleman in the next twelve months.