Coleman calls lawsuit ‘false and defamatory’

Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.) dismissed a lawsuit that accuses a donor of funneling $75,000 to Coleman's wife as "false and defamatory" Friday.

“Let me be clear: Each and every allegation in this lawsuit relating to me and my wife is false and defamatory,” Coleman said. “My wife has been devastated by this. She's angry — and she has a right to be — and so am I.”

{mosads}The lawsuit, filed by Texas businessman Paul McKim, alleges that his business partner, Nasser Kazemany, who is from Minnesota and has ties to Coleman, approached McKim about funneling $75,000 to a Minnesota insurance company where Laurie Coleman works. Even though the funds were said to be used for company's services, the lawsuit charges they were channeled to the Colemans.

Reports of the suit being filed came hours after the Coleman campaign sued Democratic opponent Al Franken for defamation Thursday, arguing his challenger’s ads falsely claim that Coleman is corrupt.

Casey Wallace, a lawyer for McKim, told the Minneapolis Star Tribune that his client’s lawsuit had nothing to do with the impending election between Franken and Coleman.

The Franken campaign declined to comment Friday on the Texas lawsuit.

Coleman said Friday that the McKim lawsuit would backfire. "This is the kind of eleventh-hour, sleazy attack the people of Minnesota are sick and tired of," Coleman said. "This is not the Minnesota way, and I know the people of Minnesota."

The allegations against Coleman come after two days of mixed polling that indicate a tight, seesawing race. Two polls by NBC News and Rasmussen showed Coleman with a small advantage as of Thursday, while a poll from Minnesota Public Radio released Friday has Franken leading 41 percent to 37.