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September 2, 2010 |
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| June 26, 2009 |
By: Brian Baxter |
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ince Norm Coleman sued Al Franken in January to overturn the former comedian's slim victory for Minnesota's U.S. senate seat, both candidates have been racking up big legal bills--and getting by with a little help from their friends.
The St. Paul Pioneer Press reports the National Republican Senatorial Committee spent nearly $1 million last month to help pay for Coleman's legal team, led by Patton Boggs partner Benjamin Ginsberg (who helped orchestrate the Bush-Cheney Florida recount in 2000), Dorsey & Whitney trial group cohead James Langdon, and Minneapolis solo practitioner Joseph Friedberg.
Financial disclosure forms show Dorsey & Whitney received $350,200 in May, while Patton Boggs took home $246,800. But no payments were listed for Friedberg, who appeared for Coleman in the trial court and before the Minnesota Supreme Court.
"I don't know why it's not there," Friedberg told the Pioneer Press. "I was paid."
Some of the biggest contributors to the Republican cause were billionaire Sheldon Adelson, owner of The Venetian resort and casino in Las Vegas, and Houston homebuilder Bob Perry, a noted Republican fundraiser.
But Franken, who holds a 312-vote lead, also has his backers. Dreamworks founder David Geffen, songstress Barbara Streisand, and composer Burt Bacharach contributed money for the Democrats. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee reported raising $282,500 in recount funds last month, but didn't itemize expenses for Franken's lawyers at Perkins Coie and Fredrikson & Byron.
The Minneapolis Star Tribune reports that both Franken and Coleman have struggled to find new sources of revenue to pay the estimated $12 million in legal fees and other expenses associated with the protracted recount campaign. (See below for a list of our previous stories on the recount legal battle.)
In other election-related legal news, consumer advocate and erstwhile presidential candidate Ralph Nader is making noise about $15,900 in campaign contributions that Pennsylvania Attorney General Tom Corbett received from Reed Smith.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that Nader is demanding that Corbett return the contributions because Reed Smith allegedly helped the state's Democratic Party thwart Nader's presidential campaign in 2004 by proving his petition signatures were invalid. Nader was later removed from state ballots.
Sibling publication Legal Times reported earlier this month that a related conspiracy-minded suit Nader filed against Reed Smith, the Democratic National Committee, and the Kerry-Edwards campaign in 2007 was rejected by the D.C. Circuit.
But Corbett's office has been handling a long-running investigation, popularly known as "Bonusgate," involving misuse of public funds for political gain. Last summer 12 state Democrats were charged for their alleged roles in the bonus scandal.
Now Nader claims the ongoing investigation has revealed Reed Smith's role in challenging his 2004 petitions, leading to Nader's call on Corbett to return the firm's donations.
"We reject any allegation that these contributions were in any way improper, either for our firm or Mr. Corbett," Reed Smith spokeswoman Jamie Moss told United Press International, noting that the firm regularly contributes to both political parties.
Nader is being represented by Oliver Hall, founder and legal counsel of the Center for Competitive Democracy in Washington, D.C.
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