The DFL has filed a complaint with the Federal Elections Commission against "former" U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman and the Republican National Lawyers Association.

Filing a complaint with the FEC always seems like such a serious deal.  But in all likelihood, neither Coleman nor the RNLA are quivering with dread.

 Even DFL Party Chair Brian Melendez admits that the process doesn't mean all that much. It seems that the commission hasn't had a quorum in more than a year. For all anybody knows, there may be thousands of very important complaints about various campaigns throughout the country stacked up in FEC offices.

Until there are at least four members on the six-member commission, apparently you could steal campaign money at gunpoint and not raise an FEC eyebrow. 

Melendez says he's not even sure whether the required number of commissioners – a bipartisan group of Republicans and Democrats – have been appointed by the president. If they have, he's not sure if the Senate has any interest in approving those appointments.

He does know that the DFL filed a complaint back in July about the Senate race – he wasn't sure what the complaint was – and the party's heard nothing about it.

OK. So with all that in mind, the DFL filed a complaint Monday alleging that the RNLA is helping fund Coleman's recount committee with illegal contributions from corporations. The complaint also alleges the RNLA has failed to register with the FEC and that Coleman has failed to report any contributions from the RNLA.

Melendez used the occasion Monday to take all sorts of little digs at Coleman. The most subtle was Melendez’s constant references to "former Sen. Norm Coleman'' and "Sen.-elect Al Franken.''

But, back to the gist of the complaint. The RNLA, based in Washington, appears to be upset about the Coleman-Franken race. In a fundraising letter, it uses an article by Dick Morris and Eileen McGann that appeared in an online publication called Newsmax to try to shake some money from people who don't want to see "Al Franken and the Democrats steal this election.''

The RNLA letter asks for contributions ranging from $30 to $5,000 and notes that "corporate funds are accepted.'' The DFL complaint notes that it's illegal for any individual to give more than $2,300 to any candidate in an election and that recount committees are guided by the same laws as campaign committees. The complaint also notes that corporations are not allowed to make contributions to candidates.

So, if Coleman's committee has accepted money from the RNLA, it has many potential problems, the DFL says. One, it hasn't reported receiving RNLA money. Two, the contributions may be greater than the law allows. Beyond that, the RNLA cannot contribute to Coleman's campaign or recount committee because it accepts corporate money. And still more: The complaint points out that the RNLA has not registered as a political committee with the FEC, which would make another reason why Coleman can't take the money.

What if Coleman has not received any money from the RNLA?

"Then, RNLA is defrauding contributors,'' said Melendez.

The state's Republican Party says it has not received a nickel from the RNLA.  The Coleman committee doesn't actually say whether it has received RNLA funds in an otherwise strongly worded statement from press secretary Luke Friedrich about the FEC complaint.

"The only thing more futile than this baseless stunt by the DFL was Al Franken's failed attempt to short-circuit the election process today,'' Friedrich said of Monday’s events. "Maybe the DFL should spend their time helping Al Franken better understand Minnesota election law, rather than attempting to attack us without any basis for doing so.''

Who know? Perhaps the Coleman recount committee is so hot over this DFL attack that it will file a complaint with the FEC. That always sounds so serious.