WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Federal Election Commission (FEC) has dismissed a complaint against former U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman, his Senate campaign and a former campaign treasurer. The complaint alleged that campaign funds for the former GOP senator from Minnesota had been improperly used to pay for legal fees associated with two civil lawsuits involving a top Coleman donor.
“The Commission found no reason to believe the respondents violated the Act because disclosure reports filed with the FEC confirmed that no campaign funds were used to pay for legal fees cited in the complaint,” the FEC reported.
The Alliance for a Better Minnesota, a liberal advocacy group, filed the complaint.
The commission issued an advisory opinion earlier this year giving Coleman permission to use campaign funds to pay for some of the legal fees associated with the lawsuits.
The lawsuits — one filed in Texas, the other in Delaware — named Nasser Kazeminy, who had donated to Coleman’s campaign. The suits alleged that Kazeminy had funneled money from his company, Deep Marine Technology, to Coleman’s family in the form of insurance payments to a company that employed Coleman’s wife.
Coleman and Kazeminy have adamantly denied the allegations.
Both of the lawsuits have since been withdrawn.
